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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] WASHINGTON, September 18, 2025 – New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell much more than expected last week, signaling unexpected resilience in the labor market despite recent signs of cooling.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, initial jobless claims for the week ending September 13 totaled 231,000, down 33,000 from the prior week’s 264,000. This marks the steepest weekly decline in nearly four years and came in well below the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 240,000.
Continuing claims, which track the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for more than one week, stood at 1.92 million for the period from August 31 to September 6, slightly down from 1.927 million in the previous week and below market expectations of 1.95 million.
The data run counter to recent trends of rising jobless claims, which had suggested that the U.S. labor market was losing momentum. Wall Street analysts are closely watching employment and inflation indicators to gauge the broader economic fallout from the Biden administration’s aggressive trade and tariff measures.
The latest figures follow recent reports of sharp slowdowns in hiring. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 4.00–4.25%, citing mounting evidence that the labor market is cooling more quickly than anticipated.
알파경제 Paul Lee 특파원(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
