US unemployment claims surge to 231,000 amid severe winter weather, cold conditions
US unemployment benefit applications increased unexpectedly last week amid severe winter weather, with initial jobless claims rising by 22,000 to 231,000, according to Labour Department data, exceeding economists' forecasts.
Applications for US unemployment benefits climbed more than expected last week as harsh winter weather swept across much of the country. Initial jobless claims rose by 22,000 to 231,000 in the final week of January, according to data released on Thursday by the Labour Department, surpassing all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits increased to 1.84 million last week. Severe winter weather likely disrupted businesses and pushed more workers to apply for unemployment aid.
Despite the increase, recent claims data indicate that most employers are still holding onto their workers as the economy remains resilient. Even so, there have been a handful of recent layoff announcements, including from United Parcel Service, Amazon, and Dow, the report noted.
Those layoffs helped drive US -job-cut announcements in January to more than double compared with a year earlier, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The outplacement firm also reported earlier Thursday that employers’ hiring plans have weakened.
The four-week moving average of initial unemployment claims, which smooths out short-term swings often caused by weather disruptions, rose to 212,250 last week.
Employers are also slowing the pace of hiring. The report released on Thursday also found that hiring plans fell 13% year over year to 5,306, the lowest January total recorded by the firm since it began tracking the data in 2009.
Companies added fewer jobs than expected in January, according to ADP Research data released Wednesday, while figures from Revelio Labs on Thursday showed the economy shed roughly 13,000 jobs last month.
Chief Revenue Officer reacts
Andy Challenger, the company’s chief revenue officer, mentioned, "Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”
Meanwhile, a partial government shutdown pushed the release of January payroll and unemployment data to Feb. 11, instead of Friday as originally planned. Data on job openings for December are scheduled to be released later Thursday.
Prior to seasonal adjustments, initial unemployment claims also increased last week. Pennsylvania, New York, and Missouri were among the states reporting the largest week-over-week gains.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)