US jobless claims reach 219,000 ahead of Middle East cease-fire
Business
Jobless claims in the US rose to 219,000 last week, up by 16,000 and a bit higher than experts expected.
Even so, these numbers are still within the usual range we've seen since the pandemic.
The timing is interesting: this jump came just before Iran, Israel, and the US agreed to a cease-fire on Tuesday night.
Oil dips to $95, layoffs continue
The cease-fire news caused oil prices to drop for a moment (down to $95 a barrel), but things bounced back as new conflicts flared up in the region.
Meanwhile, big companies like Oracle and Disney are still cutting jobs—even though overall unemployment remains low at 4.3% after 178,000 new jobs were added in March.
So while jobless claims look stable on paper, there's still plenty of uncertainty for workers right now.