US weekly jobless claims remain unchanged

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, but job opportunities are becoming more scarce for those out of work as economic uncertainty from tariffs discourages businesses from boosting hiring.

Jobless claim applications remained flat at 229,000 for the week ending May 10, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s counter expectations of a decline by 2,000 applications.   

The Labor Department reported that the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week gyrations, inched up by 3,250 to 230,500.

During the current year, the number of applications ranged between 205,000 and 243,000, which is in line with the historically low level of layoffs, despite the prevailing economic uncertainty.