US Jobless Claims Surge to 261,000, Highest Since October 2021

Applications for US unemployment benefits jumped last week to the highest level since October 2021, suggesting mounting layoff announcements may be starting to translate into job cuts.

Initial jobless claims rose by 28,000 to 261,000 in the week ended June 3, which included the Memorial Day holiday, a Labor Department report showed Thursday. The increase was the biggest since July 2021 and exceeded all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Continuing claims, which include people who have received unemployment benefits for a week or more and are a good indicator of how hard it is for people to ...