Jobless claims ticked up last week, the Department of Labor said in a news release on Thursday, providing the latest piece of evidence that President Donald Trump’s pointless trade war is harming the economy.
First-time filers for unemployment insurance stood at 241,000 last week, up 18,000 from the week prior, and more than the 225,000 claims that economists expected.
Continuing unemployment insurance claims also stood at 1,916,000, an 83,000 increase from the week prior and the highest number since November 2021, according to the DOL.
The news comes one day after the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025—largely thanks to companies stockpiling inventory before Trump’s nonsensical tariffs hit.
ADP, a major payroll company, also announced on Wednesday that private-sector job growth slowed in April, with just 62,000 jobs created—far short of the 115,000 jobs economists expected.
Taken together, the economic data is starting to bear out economists’ concerns that the tariffs Trump placed on nearly every country on the globe will tank the United States economy, which had been humming along until Trump took office.
“April 2nd was a turning point,” David Kotok, co-founder of investment management firm Cumberland Advisors, told CNN, referring to Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement. “It’s been four weeks of chaos, and the chaos has been disruptive. We are beginning to pay the price for it.”
Trump, however, is refusing to take responsibility for the sinking economy that is poised to get worse in the coming days as the punishing 145% tariffs he placed on all Chinese imports—on top of tariffs that were already in place—will go into effect.
“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” he wrote in a ridiculous Truth Social post on Wednesday, after news that the economy shrank due to tariffs started yet another stock market slide. “I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”
Even Trump sympathizers didn’t buy that spin.
“What’s that old expression? Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining? Well that applies here. The stock market is a direct reflection of Trumps 1st 100 days in office,” Dave Portnoy, CEO of the right-leaning Barstool Sports and a Trump supporter, wrote in a post on X. “Doesn’t mean it won’t get better and that we don’t need to be patient, but this is his market not Bidens.”
Trump did, however, admit that prices will go up and shortages will abound. But the wealthy con man—who lives in hideously gilded homes and is now bringing that aesthetic to the White House—said that it’s fine for Americans to go without so that he can get his way.
“Somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are gonna be open.’ Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know? And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” Trump said during a meeting where Cabinet officials rained praise down upon their Dear Leader.
Hear that, folks? Fewer toys at Christmastime to appease Dear Leader!
Democrats, for their part, are slamming Trump’s trade war and its impacts on the economy.
“Jobless claims are up. GDP is down. Stock market is down. Inflation is up,” Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) wrote in a post on X. “[Trump’s] reckless economic policies, tariffs and trade wars have been a disaster for the American economy and working class families.”
Now, we hold our breath for the April jobs report, which will be released on Friday.