New federal labor data shows U.S. workers filed 263,000 claims for unemployment benefits last week, the highest level since October 2021 and another sign the job market is cooling .

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that claims for the week ending Sept. 6 were up 27,000 from the previous week's revised level, a major jump that signals layoffs are on the rise. The four-week moving average for those seeking jobless aid is 240,500, an increase of nearly 10,000 from the previous week.

"One datapoint does not make a trend, but markets will see this big uptick in claims as the pop in layoffs that we have been waiting for," Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a research note.

Andrew Stettner, director of economy and jobs at the Century Foundation,

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