Initial insurance claims for joblessness rose to 260,000 in the week ended July 30—up 6,000 from the previous week|Ashley Fisher|CC BY-SA 2.0

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment insurance went up last week, signaling a shift in the red-hot US labor market.

Initial insurance claims for joblessness rose to 260,000 in the week ended July 30—up 6,000 from the previous week. The figure is near an eight-month high, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Jobs report
The data comes ahead of Friday’s much-anticipated jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It will show the number of new jobs added in July and if the unemployment rate held steady.

The report is expected to show that the US economy added 258,000 positions in the month, compared with the 372,000 initial June estimate and the lowest total since December 2020, per CNBC.

Inflation pressures
Although jobless claims were hovering around their lowest levels in decades, they started rising in June as inflation pressures increased and companies put the brakes on hiring.

“The labor market remains in good shape as the summer quarter progresses but the rise in initial claims since early April is a cold breeze blowing at the hot labor market this summer,” said Stuart Hoffman of the PNC Financial Services.