The number of initial jobless claims in the United States increased to 242,000 last week, reaching a two-month high.

In the United States, the initial jobless claims for the week ending February 22 recorded 242,000 people, higher than the expected 221,000, marking a new high since December 7, 2024. In the United States, continuing jobless claims for the week ending February 15 were 1.862 million, slightly below the expected 1.872 million, with the previous value revised from 1.869 million to 1.867 million. Following the release of economic data in the United States, Treasury bonds continued to decline. As new claims increase, many well-known companies such as Starbucks, Meta, and Southwest Airlines also plan to lay off employees. Economists are also paying attention to the ripple effect of federal agency layoffs, including the impact on contractors and other private service companies (especially in the Washington D.C. area) that have business dealings with the government. In the Washington D.C. area, unemployment claims have risen to the highest level since March 2023, continuing the upward trend since the beginning of this year. Both Maryland and Virginia, which have a concentration of federal employees, have seen a decrease in unemployment claims. Claims from dismissed federal employees are typically not included in the overall initial jobless claims, but are reported separately. However, these data will include workers who are unemployed in contractors and other entities that have business dealings with or receive federal funding. Overall, while layoffs nationwide are still relatively low, the demand for workers has slowed down.