The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to continued labor market stability ahead of potential volatility from import tariffs.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000 for the week ended March 29, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 claims for the latest week.
Low layoffs have kept the labor market humming. There were 1.07 job openings for every unemployed person in February, down from 1.13 in January, the government reported on Tuesday.
But economists worry that President Donald Trump’s blizzard of tariffs since returning to the White House in January could hurt the labor market.
Business and consumer sentiment have plummeted, which could weigh on investment, spending and demand for workers. Trump said on Wednesday he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the United States and higher duties on some of the country’s biggest trading partners. Fitch Ratings that estimated the new tariffs were the highest in more than a century.
Trump sees tariffs as a tool to raise revenue to offset his promised tax cuts and to revive a long-declining U.S. industrial base, a view not shared by economists.