A slightly higher number of Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, although the rate of job cuts is still historically low.

According to the Labor Department, there was a 2,000 increase in U.S. jobless claims, totaling 223,000 for the week ending on March 15. This figure was slightly below the 224,000 expected by analysts.

Weekly jobless benefit applications are seen as an indicator of layoffs and have consistently ranged between 200,000 and 250,000 over the past few years.

The four-week average, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, rose by 750 to 227,000.

The impact of workforce reductions ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on the weekly layoffs report is uncertain. The February jobs report from the Labor Department revealed a loss of 10,000 federal government jobs, the largest since June 2022.

Economists anticipate that the federal workforce layoffs will not be fully reflected until the March jobs report. These layoffs are a result of the DOGE initiative, led by Elon Musk, aimed at reducing the federal workforce size.

Government officials initiated the downsizing via a memo last month, expanding President Donald Trump's workforce reduction efforts significantly. Some probationary employees have been terminated, but court orders have mandated the rehiring of thousands of these workers.

Despite some recent weakening trends, the labor market continues to be robust, with ample job opportunities and minimal layoffs.

The Labor Department's data showed that U.S. employers added a respectable 151,000 jobs in the previous month. Although the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1%, it remains at a historically healthy level.

Several prominent companies, such as Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, and Meta (Facebook's parent company), have announced job cuts this year.

The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits increased by 33,000 to 1.89 million for the week of March 8.