Department of Labor data showed that first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 to an estimated 238,000 last week, lifting the four-week average.
Furthermore, Americans are staying unemployed longer, as continuing claims rose to their highest level since November 2021.
Luke Tilley, Wilmington Trust’s chief economist, stated that the three-month average of permanent job losers is up about 200,000 people from last year.
"On a three-month average basis, it’s up about 200,000 people from last year," Tilley said.
"And that metric of permanent job losers, year-over-year, is almost never positive in an expansion.
It was never positive between 2010 and 2019; it was not positive in between the tech crash recession of 2001 and then 2008," he said.
"So when you sort of peel back the onion from what looks like very strong job growth in a raw number count and look at it a little closer … that paints a labor market that has normalized and is at risk of slipping."
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Despite these concerns, data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that US-based employers announced 48,786 job cuts in June, down 24% from May.
