Weekly Jobless Claims Remain Steady at 200,000; Labor Market Resilient Despite AI-Driven Restructuring

Initial claims for the week ending May 2 rose by 10,000 to 200,000, coming in below the consensus forecast of 205,000. The four-week moving average declined by 4,500 to 203,250. Despite April layoff announcements of 83,000 (up 38% month-over-month), claims remained below 230,000. Freshworks announced approximately 500 global layoffs on May 7 under the banner of AI restructuring.