The number of Americans who submitted new requests for unemployment has increased more than expected last week, which may indicate an increase in workers’ demobilization due to the import tariff, which was its weight on the American economy in the first quarter.
On Thursday (1), the Ministry of Labor said that the initial unemployment requests increased from 18,000 to 241,000 on a seasonal base, on April 26. Economists consulted by Reuters 224,000 requests last week.
The American economy was contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years, when imports were flooded, while companies were trying to avoid President Donald Trump.
Economists expect that aggressive commercial policy will lead to a wave of unemployment. Definition tariffs, which must harm the local demand, already lead some companies to reduce employees.
United Parcel Service announced on Tuesday (29) that it will reduce 20,000 jobs and close 73 facilities, as part of the Amazon.com delivery plan.
Companies have generally adopted a position on waiting for vision and maintaining their work forces, although they are still cautious about increasing employees.
The report showed that the number of people who received benefits after a week of initial assistance, which is an indicator of employment, by 83,000 to 1.916 million, in season -amending data, during the week ending April 19.
