The U.S. labor market added fewer layoffs last week, as applications for unemployment benefits dropped to 202,000 for the week ending March 28, the Labor Department reported April 2. The weekly figure fell from 211,000 the prior week, a sign that layoffs remained relatively low even as the economy faced other stressors.
Initial jobless claims are widely used as a near-real-time indicator of changes in layoffs, and the Labor Department said that the claims level was within the range of recent weeks after a brief dip. Economists and analysts continued to monitor the weekly counts closely ahead of the next monthly employment report due out the following day.
The Labor Department also reported that the four-week moving average of jobless claims declined to 207,750, down 3,000 from the prior period that smooths out week-to-week volatility. Separately, it said the total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the week ending March 21 increased by 25,000 to 1.84 million.
Even with jobless claims easing, the broader jobs picture has shown signs of strain, including a recent round of Labor Department revisions. The agency previously reported that employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs in February, and revisions also slashed 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls, nudging the unemployment rate up to 4.4%.
The pattern of comparatively restrained layoffs also has unfolded alongside recent job cuts at some large companies, including Oracle and others cited by the news report. Companies mentioned in the report as having announced job reductions included Morgan Stanley, UPS and Amazon.
The report attributed some of the economic uncertainty to higher costs associated with the Iran war, saying energy prices surged more than 40% and pushed up costs for businesses and consumers. It also pointed to persistent inflation before the war’s energy spikes, citing the Commerce Department’s report that the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge rose 2.8% in January compared with a year earlier.
In that setting, the report said the Federal Reserve left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at its last meeting and that expectations for an imminent rate cut have dimmed. It also noted that central bank officials voted to raise the rate three times to close out 2025, citing concern that the labor market was weakening.
The Labor Department’s figures add to a description of the labor market as a “low-hire, low-fire” environment, with unemployment kept relatively low while many job seekers have struggled to find new work. While weekly unemployment-benefit applications fell, the upcoming March jobs report was positioned as the next key checkpoint for whether hiring momentum held or continued to cool.