Jobless Claims Drop, Labor Market Holds Steady

0:00It's April 2nd. I'm Cory with the story, and this is Vancouver News today, your AI-powered local news. U.S. jobless claims dropped last week, signaling layoffs are still pretty light even with a cooling job market and skyrocketing energy costs from the Iran-Wologatit. For the weekend in March 28th, applications fell 9,000-2002,000, beating expectations of 212,000. That's staying in line with recent years and shows the labor market holding steady so far. A few big names have trimmed staff lately, like Oracle slashing thousands this week, plus Morgan Stanley, Block, UPS, and Amazon making cuts. Back in February, employers surprisingly axed 92,000 jobs, pushing unemployment to 4.4% after revisions trimmed, earlier months too. This week's spot adds pressure amid economic jitters from the Middle East conflict, where oil prices jumped over 40%, hitting businesses, and, while it's hard, inflation's already

1:01running hot at 2.8% on the Fed's key gauge, well above their 2% goal. The four-week average of claims ease 3,000-2007,750, smoothing out the ups and downs. But continuing claims rose 25,000-1.84 million, meaning folks are taking longer to land new gigs. Keep an eye on Friday's March jobs report. It could shake things up as the Fed stays cautious, holding rates steady in this low higher low-fire job.