The job market is slowing down. The U.S. Department of Labor reported on May 29 that new unemployment claims for the week of May 18-24 totaled 240,000, up 14,000 from the previous week. Notably, "continuing unemployment claims," representing those applying for benefits for two or more weeks, reached 1,919,000 for the week of May 11-17, an increase of 26,000 from the prior week. This marks the highest level of continuing claims since November 2021 (1.97 million), a span of three and a half years.