After hitting the highest level of the year, Initial Jobless Claims fell 17,000 in the latest week, with 233,000 people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time. Continuing Claims rose by 6,000, as 1.875 million people are continuing to receive benefits after filing their initial claim.
What’s the bottom line? Both Initial and Continuing Claims have trended higher this summer when compared to the start of the year, with Continuing Claims topping 1.8 million each week since the start of June. This shows that the pace of layoffs over the last two months has picked up at the same time employers have slowed down hiring. This sentiment was echoed by ZipRecruiter last week during their second quarter earnings call. Cofounder and CEO Ian Siegel explained, “As we look toward the second half of 2024, we continue to navigate challenging labor market conditions. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, seasonally adjusted hires have declined every month on a year-over-year basis since August of 2022. The quit rate has fallen 9% below the average rate in 2019.” The data combined suggests we are seeing a steady weakening in the labor market.