Svmuu News According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor, for the week ending April 4th, the number of Americans filing initial jobless claims increased by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000. Economists had previously forecast 210,000 claims. Low levels of layoffs are providing support to the labor market, with no signs yet that employers are cutting jobs due to oil price shocks stemming from the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. The labor market is stuck in what economists call a "low hiring, low firing" state, which they attribute to uncertainty caused by Trump's import tariffs and mass deportations. Although non-farm payrolls rebounded by 178,000 in March, the average duration of unemployment for jobless individuals reached 11.4 weeks, the longest level in nearly four and a half years. The number of continuing claims fell to 1.794 million, but this may be because people have exhausted their unemployment benefit eligibility, as most states limit benefits to 26 weeks. (Jin10)