Jobless claims surpass 200,000 to 5-month high

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week jumped by the most in five months, but layoffs remain historically low as the labor market continues to be largely unaffected by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.

Applications for jobless claims in the US for the week ending March 4 rose by 21,000 to 211,000 from 190,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It’s the first time in eight weeks that claims came in above 200,000.

The four-week moving average of claims, which flattens out some of the weekly ups and downs, rose by 4,000 to 197,000, remaining below the 200,000 threshold for the seventh straight week.

Applications for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs.

Last month the Fed raised its main lending rate by 25 basis points, the eighth straight rate hike in its year-long battle against stubborn inflation. The central bank’s benchmark rate is now in a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, its highest level in 15 years and some analysts are forecasting three or more increases that would push the lower end of that rate to 5.5%.

The Fed’s rate increases are meant to cool the economy, labor market and wages, thereby suppressing prices. But so far, none of those things have happened, at least not to the degree that the central bank had hoped.

Inflation remains more than double the Fed’s 2% target, and the economy is growing and adding jobs at a healthy clip.

Last month, the government reported that employers added a better-than-expected 517,000 jobs in January and that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969. Analysts expect Friday’s jobs report to show the economy added another 208,000 jobs in February.

Fed policymakers have forecast that the unemployment rate would rise to 4.6% by the end of this year, a sizable increase historically associated with recessions.

Though the labor market remains strong, layoffs have been mounting in the technology sector, where many companies overhired after a pandemic boom. IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months.

The real estate sector has also been battered by the Fed’s interest rate hikes. Higher mortgage rates — currently above 6% — have slowed home sales for 12 straight months. That’s almost in lockstep with the Fed’s rate hikes that began last March.

About 1.72 million people were receiving jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 25, an increase of 69,000 from the week before.