India, May 29 -- More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain low despite economic uncertainty caused by the Iran war.

The Labour Department reported Thursday that jobless claims were up to 2,15,000, up from 2,10,000 the week before. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by nearly 6,300 to 2,09,000.

The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits - a proxy for layoffs - has stabilised in a low range of mostly 2,00,000 to 2,50,000 a week since the US economy emerged from a brief but nasty pandemic recession in 2020.

The persistently low number of claims suggests that most US companies have not resorted to layoffs. But even if they're not cutting ...