The number of initial jobless claims in the United States has declined, but labor demand is sluggish and unemployment has risen to a four-year high

Initial jobless claims fell last week but the labour market lost its luster to the lacklustre pace of hiring. Initial jobless claims fell by 14,000 to 218,000 in the week to September 20, the labour department said on Thursday. While companies are hoarding workers, they remain reluctant to increase headcount as they deal with uncertainty over protectionist trade policies, which have raised average US tariffs to their highest level in a century. Weak labour demand has weakened the resilience of the labour market, prompting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again last week. The Trump administration's crackdown on immigration has also reduced labour supply and damped job growth. The number of initial jobless claims showed that the number of renewed jobless claims fell by 2,000 in the week ended September 13, to a seasonally adjusted 1.926 million. The average length of unemployment rose to 24.5 weeks in August from 24.1 weeks, the longest since April 2022, and the unemployment rate rose to a near four-year high of 4.3%.