As the labor market continues to soften, a greater number of Americans filed first-time unemployment claims last week, according to the Labor Department.

7,000 more people are now in the workforce than the previous week, bringing the total to 251,000....

Over the past four weeks, the moving average has increased by 4,500 to 240,500. A weekly number of 240,000 was predicted by economists.

Increasing interest rates and a slowing economy are beginning to change the labor market's trajectory, as evidenced by the level of claims.

As a result of rising borrowing costs and weaker demand, other sectors of the economy have already cooled off. June saw a decline in both new home construction and existing home sales.

In its first rate hike in 11 years, the European Central Bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points Thursday. Approximately 75 basis points or more will be raised by the Federal Reserve next week.

A slowing economy is what the Fed wants, but not so much that the country slips into recession. However, that seems increasingly unlikely.

According to Vanguard's recent 2022 market outlook update, 65% of people expect a recession within the next 24 months.

According to Vanguard, the U.S. economy will grow 1.5% this year, down from 2% in the June monthly update.

It will be released next week how much gross domestic product was produced in the second quarter. A 1.6% decline in GDP was recorded in the first quarter.