Aug 6 (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits increased slightly last week, while layoffs dropped to a two-year low in July, consistent with a stable labor market
Other data on Thursday showed worker productivity grew faster than expected in the second quarter, curbing gains in labor costs. The lack of labor market stress and contained wage pressures gave the Federal Reserve room to focus on the inflation fallout from the Middle East conflict, economists said. They said there were some signs that the adoption of artificial <a href="https://bitcomme.com/weekly-intelligence-report-7-aug-2026/” title=”Weekly Intelligence Report – 7 Aug 2026″>intelligence by businesses was raising productivity.
Still, economists said the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates next month unless inflation improved.
“A true productivity miracle that brings down some of the higher price costs borne by consumers and business and keeps overall inflation in check depends on whether the emerging advancements in AI technology truly enable workers to produce goods more cheaply and provide services at a lower cost over time,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 199,000 for the week ended August 1, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 202,000 claims for the latest week.
Claims have dropped considerably since surging in early June, and are at the lower end of their 189,000-230,000 range for this year. Though some of the decline reflects difficulties adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations in summer, layoffs have remained very low despite the oil price shock from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, now in its sixth month.
There are also no signs of widespread job losses linked to the AI buildout, with layoffs mostly confined to the technology industry. A separate report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas on Thursday showed planned job cuts by U.S.-based employers dropped 27% to 33,429 in July, the lowest level since July 2024. Announced layoffs fell 46% from a year ago. They are down 41% this year compared to the same period in 2025.
The number of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.801 million during the week ended July 25, the claims report showed. The claims data have no bearing on the Labor Department’s closely watched employment report for July, scheduled to be released on Friday.
