More Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, rising to highest level in eight months

More Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, rising to highest level in eight months Politics Jun 5, 2025 12:26 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in eight months last week but remain historically low despite growing uncertainty about how tariffs could impact the broader economy.

New applications for jobless benefits rose by 8,000 to 247,000 for the week ending May 31, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the most since early October. Analysts had forecast 237,000 new applications.

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Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and have mostly bounced around a historically healthy range betwee