The number of Americans who filed new requests for unemployment insurance increased more than expected last week, which may indicate an increase in layoffs due to import tariffs, which weighed on the US economy in the first quarter.
Initial unemployment requests increased from 18,000 to 241,000 on a seasonally adjusted base, the week ended April 26, the Labor Department said on Thursday (1). Economists consulted by Reuters foresaw 224,000 requests for last week.
The US economy was contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years, flooded by imports, while companies were trying to avoid President Donald Trump’s fares.
Economists predict that aggressive trade policy will result in a wave of unemployment. Tariffs, which should damage domestic demand, are already leading some companies to reduce staff.
United Parcel Service announced on Tuesday (29) that it would cut 20,000 jobs and close 73 facilities, as part of an Amazon.com delivery reduction plan.
Companies have generally adopted an attitude of waiting to see and are maintaining their job forces, although they remain cautious about staff increase.
The number of people who received benefits after an initial assistance week, an indicator of hiring, increased by 83,000 to 1.916 million, in seasonally adjusted data, during the week ended April 19, the report showed.
