US weekly jobless claims hit highest level since August of 2023, though job market is still hot

By MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped to its highest level in more than eight months last week in another sign that the labor market may be softening. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending May 4 rose by 22,000 to 231,000. Last week’s claims were the most since the final week of August 2023. In total, 1.79 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended April 27. That’s up 17,000 from the previous week. Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week.