It hasn’t been this hard for Americans to find work since 2021

Layoffs may not be mounting, but it’s getting harder to find a job in a labor market where hiring is “anemic” as tariff-driven economic uncertainty has put a chill on some employers.

New data released Thursday showed that initial claims for unemployment benefits — considered a proxy for layoffs — fell last week. However, the number of recurring claims made by people who already have filed for unemployment rose to their highest level since November 2021.

There were an estimated 227,000 first-time applications for unemployment insurance made during the week that ended on July 5. That’s down 5,000 claims from the prior week.