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Employment

Employment
Unemployment suggests steady job market
Unemployment claims in the United States increased slightly in the week ending 21 March, suggesting a stable labour market. According to a Department of Labour report, the number of claims rose 5,000 week-over-week to 210,000. The figure for insured unemployment for the week ending 14 March was 1.819 million, which was a 32,000 decrease from the previous week. This was also the lowest level since 25 March 2024, when it was 1.804 million. However, the lower figure was likely due to people exhausting their eligibility aid, which is limited to 26 weeks in most states. This comes as many economists have downgraded their forecasts for the U.S. economy this year and boosted projections for unemployment, amid a surge in oil prices driven by the war in Iran. Many high-profile companies, like Meta and Paramount, have announced job cuts. According to JPMorgan Chase & Co economist Abiel Reinhart, the decline in continuing claims could be a good sign for upcoming job reports. “The number of unemployed on permanent layoff had kept rising through February in the employment report, but continuing claims are one sign that you could soon see the unemployment rate level off or decline,” Reinhart said in a note following the
Employment
Dimon warns AI could lead to job displacement
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warns that artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to mass job displacement in the United States and that a solution requires action from both government and business. This comes as the White House grapples with how to regulate AI without stifling innovation as companies race to deploy automation tools that could reshape millions of jobs. ″[If] all of a sudden it creates unemployment, that’s a big problem for society,” Dimon said. Dimon said that while he doesn’t know the answer, it would involve collaboration from government and business. “But the government could create a system of incentives that business does the right thing to retrain people, early retirement, moving people ... if we have the right system in place, we can accommodate much quicker.” He also warned that economic changes from AI will happen rapidly and that it may occur faster than other recent technological developments that disrupted the economy and workforce, like the internet. “This one may be quicker ... so therefore, can we accommodate the people if they lose their jobs quick enough?” Dimon said. Dimon’s warnings come as he has taken steps at JPMorgan Chase to shift employees into new roles as automation
Employment
Australia's unemployment rate up unexpectedly in Feb
Australia’s unemployment rate rose unexpectedly in February, though total employment also climbed as more people moved into part-time work. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate grew by 0.2 percentage points to 4.3% last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said. This represents an increase of 35,000 people and surpassed Westpac forecasts of 4.1%. “This month we saw fewer people who were unemployed and waiting to start a job in January move into employment in February, compared to recent Februarys,” said ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick. “We also saw more people remaining unemployed this month compared to recent Februarys.” Despite the rise in unemployment, the labour force participation rate increased from 66.7% to 66.9%, and total employment climbed by 48,900 to 14,748,700 people. This was largely due to growth in part-time employment, which was up 79,000 to 4,631,800 people. “This month we saw more people move into part-time employment, particularly those aged 65 and over,” said Crick. “Additionally, this month we saw that fewer people are leaving jobs to retire compared to a year ago.” Hours worked also dropped by 0.2% to 2.007 billion in February as the number of Australians in par
Employment
US job openings sluggish; consumer sentiment falls
United States job openings reached almost 7 million for January 2026, marking a sluggish rise from the month prior. The 6.9 million job postings were higher than analysts' expectations but were only a small jump from December’s 6.6 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hires remained unchanged at 5.3 million. The number of layoffs fell slightly, and the number of Americans quitting their jobs dipped slightly. Layoffs totalled 1.6 million in January, down from 1.7 million last month, and the number of people quitting their jobs totalled 3.1 million, down from December's 3.2 million. This follows employers cutting 92,000 jobs last month. They also added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month in 2025, marking the weakest hiring outside recession years since 2002. This appears to be impacted by President Donald Trump’s policies, the lingering effects of high interest rates, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence, which appear to be weighing on the labour market. Despite this, the American economy has remained resilient in the face of Trump’s import taxes and deportations. However, the Commerce Department reported that economic growth has slowed sharply in the past three months of 2025 to
Employment
US payrolls fall by 92k; unemployment rises to 4.4%
The United States labour market showed unexpected signs of weakness in February after the economy lost jobs and the unemployment rate edged higher, raising questions about the strength of employment conditions and complicating the outlook for monetary policy. Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 92,000 during the month, while the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The result came as a surprise, with markets expecting payrolls to rise by 59,000 following a downwardly revised increase of 126,000 in January. The unemployment rate had been forecast to remain steady at 4.3%. The February payroll decline marked the sixth contraction since January 2025 and the second-largest drop over that period, a sign that the labour market may be losing momentum after several years of strong job creation. Part of the weakness reflected temporary factors amid a strike involving healthcare workers, as well as severe winter weather that disrupted employment in sectors including construction and leisure and hospitality. Analysts from ING noted: “February was filled with winter storms, impacting construction the other way and hurting leisure and hospitality as peop

Employment
Unemployment filings, company layoffs hit historic lows
United States filings for unemployment benefits and company layoffs reach historic lows. Filings for jobless aid for the week ending 28 February matched the previous week’s 213,000, according to the Department of Labor. Analysts from FaceSheet expected this week’s level to reach 215,000. This comes after the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% to 4.4%. However, government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands, reducing the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000. That’s about one-third of the previously reported 584,000, and the weakest since the pandemic year of 2020. According to data released by Challenger, Grey & Christmas, U.S.-based layoffs dropped 56%, from 108,435 in January to 48,307 in February. This also marks a 72% from the 172,017 reported in the same month last year. In total, employers have announced 156,742 during the first months of the year, which is the lowest January-to-February total since 2022. However, Challenger, Gray & Christmas chief revenue officer Andy Challenger said that the change could be temporary. He said rising economic and geopoliti
Employment
US private sector hiring beats forecasts in Feb: ADP
United States private sector hiring rose more than forecast in February, though gains were driven almost entirely by education and health services. Companies added 63,000 jobs, per payroll software company ADP’s National Employment Report. This is higher than the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 48,000, and well above the downwardly-revised 11,000 seen in January. “We've seen an increase in hiring and pay gains remain solid, especially for job-stayers," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. "But with hiring concentrated in only a few sectors, our data shows no widespread pay benefit from changing jobs. In fact, the pay premium for switching employers hit a record low in February.” Education and health services sector jobs surged by 58,000 last month, by far the most of any industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January nonfarm payrolls report showed 82,000 jobs were added in healthcare, with another 42,000 in other related care work. Construction saw the second-highest increase at 19,000, followed by the information sector at 11,000. The professional and business services sector posted the largest job losses at 30,000. Overall, goods-producing industries added 16,000 jobs and service-providing industries ad
Employment
Unemployment rate remains steady in January: ABS
New numbers show that the unemployment rate in Australia has remained steady at 4.1%. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report for January found that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was steady for the month of January, with very little change. Youth underemployment was up by one percentage point to 14.8%, underemployment and underutilisation both rose slightly by 0.2 percentage points to 5.9% and 10% respectively. Full-time hours worked were up by 0.7%, but part-time hours only increased 0.1% Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “Employed people grew by 18,000. Full-time employment rose by 50,000 people, partly offset by a fall of 33,000 people in part-time employment.” Markets had been expecting an addition of 20,000 jobs. ANZ analysts commented on the result: "Today’s labour market data has not led to a change in our RBA view. That said, the data is likely to reinforce the RBA’s thinking that the labour market remains a little tight. “In the February meeting minutes, the RBA Monetary Policy Board noted that the conditions in the labour market suggested that monetary policy was not restrictive overall.”
Employment
UK unemployment reaches highest rate in five years
Unemployment in the United Kingdom has reached its highest rate in around five years at the end of 2025. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in the three months to December from 5.1% in the three months to November. Young people are bearing the brunt, with unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 rising to 16.1%, the highest in 10 years.Credit: Office for National StatisticsThis comes as joblessness in the UK has steadily risen since 2022, and businesses have complained that tax rises by Rachel Reeves in her last two budgets have exacerbated this, with rises in national insurance contributions (NICs) and the minimum wage causing particular issues. Martin Beck, the chief economist at WPI Strategy, said: “Higher labour costs, reflecting last year’s increase in employer NICs and rises in the adult minimum wage, appear to be weighing most heavily on entry-level hiring. At the same time, firms are likely reassessing junior roles in the face of rapid advances in AI.” For those in work, wages have increased 4.2% in the three months to December. Despite this, the growth has slowed from 4.4% in the previous month. In the private sector, pay increased by 3.2%, the lowest