WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits increased marginally last week and the unemployment rate appeared to hold steady in February amid a stable labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 4,000 to a seasonally 212,000 for the week ended February 21, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 215,000 claims for the latest week.
Last week’s claims included the Presidents’ Day holiday, which could have impacted the data. Nonetheless, the level of claims suggested that the labor market continued to stabilize after hitting a soft patch last year amid uncertainty stemming from President Donald Trump’s broad tariffs.
The U.S. Supreme Court last Friday struck down the tariffs, which Trump pursued under a law meant for use in national emergencies. Trump swiftly imposed a 10% global tariff for 150 days to replace some of the emergency duties, before raising the rate to 15% over the weekend.
Economists said the latest moves created near-term uncertainty, but anticipated minimal economic impact.
Lingering uncertainty from the since-invalidated import duties was blamed for a general hesitancy among businesses to increase hiring. A rapid adoption of artificial intelligence is also adding another layer of caution, economists said.
The number of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, dropped 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.833 million during the week ended February 14, the claims report showed. The so-called continuing claims covered the period during which the government surveyed households for February’s unemployment rate.
The jobless rate eased to 4.3% in January from 4.4% in December. While the labor market is regaining its footing, consumers remain anxious about their employment prospects.
A survey from the Conference Board this week showed the share of consumers who viewed jobs as “hard to get” increased to a five-year high in February, though households also believed the availability of jobs had improved.
The median duration of unemployment is near four-year highs, and job opportunities remain scarce for young college graduates, labor market data shows.
Jobless recent college graduates do not show in the claims data because they have limited or no work history, making them ineligible to file for unemployment benefits.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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