US Jobless Claims Watched for Federal Layoffs Impact
Data for week ending Mar 29 scheduled for release on Thursday expected to show pressure of wholesale sacking
U.S. unemployment insurance weekly claims report scheduled for release Thursday is keenly watched for any impact from the series of federal staff layoffs that Elon Musk’s DOGE has ignited. Experts are talking of a likely recession triggered by President Donald Trump’s impending tariff wars. The proposed reciprocal tariffs could hit imports spurring further inflation.
The comfort of the slight drop in unemployment claims for the week ending March 22 could become short-lived. That report of the Department of Labor released on March 27 showed a fall in seasonally adjusted unemployment insurance claims to 224,000 from 225,000 the week earlier. The 4-week moving average of the also showed a drop of 4,750 claims from the previous week’s revised number.
The Department of labor reported Tuesday that a slowing job market saw employers posting 7.6 million job openings in February. The report attributed the slowdown to the increase in federal staff layoffs that hit the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The inflation numbers also have not been encouraging. The Federal Open Market Committee decided to keep the interest rates unchanged after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the agency will continue to bring inflation closer to 2% target while it hovered over 2.7% much of last quarter.
The February Consumer Price Index report failed to calm markets despite a slight dip. The markets are bracing for the impact of the reciprocal tariffs regime that Trump is implementing from April 2. The markets could be rocked by retaliatory tariffs from America’s closest trading partners. Canada has not only threatened to retaliate but as well started negotiations with China and European countries to diversify oil and gas sales away from the U.S.
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