Svmuu News: Data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000 for the week ending April 4. Economists had forecast 210,000. Layoffs remain low, supporting the labor market, with no signs yet of employers cutting jobs due to oil price shocks stemming from the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. The labor market is in what economists call a "low-hiring, low-firing" state, which they attribute to uncertainty from Donald Trump's import tariffs and mass deportations. Despite a rebound of 178,000 non-farm payrolls in March, the average duration of unemployment for jobless individuals reached 11.4 weeks, the longest in nearly four and a half years. Continuing jobless claims fell to 1.794 million, but this could be due to people exhausting their unemployment benefits eligibility, which most states limit to 26 weeks. (Jinshi)