US Weekly Jobless Claims Rise to 225,000, Exceed Forecasts

US initial jobless claims rose above market expectations last week.

The Labor Department said June 4 that initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 225,000 last week. That was 11,000 higher than economists’ forecast of 214,000 and up 13,000 from the prior week’s revised 212,000.

Continuing claims, which reflect the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for two consecutive weeks, totaled 1.777 million. That was down 8,000 from the previous week’s revised 1.785 million and 3,000 below the market forecast of 1.78 million.

Initial jobless claims are a gauge of whether the US labor market is overheating. A rise in claims can signal that labor-market tightness is easing.

Economists are closely watching employment indicators such as jobless claims to assess how President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies are affecting corporate decision-making.