WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits tumbled to their lowest level more than 50 years last week despite a number of economic headwinds including the war in Iran.
U.S. jobless aid applications for the week ending April 25 fell by 26,000 to 189,000, down from the previous week’s 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s well below the 214,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.
Filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
According to High Frequency Economics, this week’s number for new jobless aid applications was the fewest since September of 1969.
“There is nothing to worry about in this report. YET!,” HFE’s Chief Economist Carl Weinberg wrote in a note to clients. “At some point, elevated energy costs and prices for materials will cause firms to lay off marginal workers to protect profit margins.”
Despite dwindling layoffs shown in government data, the Iran war, now in its ninth week, has injected a large degree of uncertainty about how it will affect the U.S. and global economies even as Iran and the U.S. remain under a ceasefire agreement.
U.S. financial markets have rebounded near record levels and prices for a barrel of U.S. crude oil remain elevated around $104 per barrel. That’s better than the $112 earlier this month, but still 50% higher than before the war began. Gas prices also much higher since the war began — AAA says the national average Thursday was at $4.30 a gallon —- saddling businesses and consumers with higher costs.
Also Thursday, the government reported that a key inflation measure jumped in March as gas prices soared, the latest sign that the Iran war is driving the cost of living sharply higher.
An inflation gauge monitored by the Federal Reserve rose 0.7% in March from February, up sharply from the previous month, the Commerce Department said. Compared with a year ago, prices rose 3.5%, the biggest increase in almost three years.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation also rose.
This comes at a time when U.S. inflation was already above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. On Wednesday, the Fed opted to leave its benchmark rate where it was, citing economic uncertainty caused by instability in the Middle East and persistently high inflation.
Lower interest rates can boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to fuel inflation. Fed officials voted to cut rates three times to close 2025 out of concern for a weakening job market.
More government data released Thursday showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a modest 2% pace from January through March. That’s up from a lackluster 0.5% expansion the last three months of 2025, hampered by the 43-day government shutdown.
The Labor Department reported earlier this month that U.S. employers added an unexpectedly strong 178,000 new jobs in March, nudging the unemployment rate back down to 4.3%. That followed a surprisingly large loss of 92,000 jobs in February. Revisions also have trimmed 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls, a sign that the labor market remains under strain.
A number of high-profile companies have cut jobs recently, including Morgan Stanley,Block, UPS, Amazon and several other tech companies.
Weekly jobless aid applications have stabilized in a range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. economy emerged from the pandemic recession. However, hiring began slowing about two years ago and tapered further in 2025 due to President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff rollouts, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates meant to control inflation.
Employers added fewer than 200,000 jobs last year, compared with about 1.5 million in 2024, according to the data firm FactSet.
The American labor market appears stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job. The recent artificial intelligence boom and the investment required to develop it is also making companies reluctant to hire.
The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, came in at 207,500, about 3,500 lower than the previous week.
The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending April 18 fell to 1.79 million, a decrease of 23,000.
Zoe Lloyd, a 21-year-old student at Northern Arizona University, works from her laptop at Sosta in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Monday, April 20 2026. (AP Photo/Cheyanne Mumphrey)
LONDON (AP) — The British government on Thursday said the country was facing an antisemitism “emergency” and pledged funding to increase security for Jewish communities after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing that have sparked fear and anger.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said "an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us" after two Jewish men, aged 34 and 76, were stabbed and seriously injured in Golders Green, an area in north London that is an epicenter of Britain's Jewish community. Both men are in a stable condition.
But some in the community turned their anger on a government they say is failing to tackle antisemitism. Starmer was heckled by about 100 protesters holdings signs saying “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer” when he visited Golders Green on Thursday.
Police have arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder and labeled the stabbing attack as an act of terrorism. Detectives are working to determine a motive and whether there is any link to Iranian proxies.
The suspect, whose name hasn’t been released, had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues” and may have been involved in an “altercation” in another area of London hours before the Golders Green attack, the force said.
In 2020 he was referred to the government’s Prevent program, which tries to steer individuals away from extremism. The police force said his file was closed later the same year, and did not disclose the reason for the referral.
Britain’s Jewish community, which numbers about 300,000 people, has faced growing attacks online and in the streets.
The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust charity.
Last October, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur and fatally stabbed one person. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.
Since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, there have been a string of arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in London as well as on opponents of the Iranian government.
Police say 28 people have been arrested over those attacks, which did not cause any injuries. A handful have been charged and one teenager has been convicted after pleading guilty.
Several arson attacks have been claimed online in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia. Israel’s government has described the group, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
An online post under the same name also claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s stabbing. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said authorities were investigating whether that claim is credible or “opportunistic.”
Security experts have warned that the name may be a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.
The U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting Iranian opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year ending in October.
Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley said Wednesday: “Whilst I can’t comment on live investigations, we know that some individuals are being encouraged, persuaded or paid to commit acts of violence on behalf of foreign organizations and hostile states.”
Starmer pledged Thursday that the attacks would bring a “swift and visible” criminal justice response. Mahmood said she is treating antisemitism as “an emergency,” describing it as the top security issue she faced.
The government announced 25 million pounds ($34 million) for more police patrols and protection around synagogues, schools and community centers.
But some Jews and others say the government has allowed an atmosphere of antisemitism to grow. They say pro-Palestinian protests, held regularly since October 2023, have gone beyond criticism of Israel's actions to foster an atmosphere of intimidation and hatred against Jews.
The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but some say chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” incite anti-Jewish hatred. Some protesters have been arrested for displaying support for Hamas, a banned organization in the U.K.
Jonathan Hall, the government’s former reviewer of terrorism legislation, called for pro-Palestinian marches to be temporarily banned, saying they had helped “incubate” antisemitism.
Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch backed calls for a ban, saying the marches “are used as a cover for violence and intimidation against Jews.”
The government has not backed a ban but said it would bring in legislation to prosecute “individuals and groups acting on behalf of state-sponsored organizations.”
Protesters hold posters near the scene where two people were stabbed yesterday in the Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Thursday, April 30, 2026.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Protesters hold posters near the scene where two people were stabbed yesterday in the Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Thursday, April 30, 2026.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a meeting following Wednesday's stabbing of two Jewish men in the Golders Green neighborhood in north London, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Dan Kitwood/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks in Downing Street after chairing a Cobra meeting following two people being stabbed in Golders Green, north-west London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, Pool)
A police officer stands behind a police cordon after two people were stabbed in Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Members of the community watch as forensic officers search the area after two people were stabbed in the Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
A Police officer patrols the high street after two people were stabbed in Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Forensic officers search the area after two people were stabbed in Golders Green neighborhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
