WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, but job opportunities are becoming more scarce for those out of work as economic uncertainty from tariffs discourages businesses from boosting hiring.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits held steady at a seasonally adjusted 229,000 for the week ended May 10, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 229,000 claims for the latest week.

Claims have moved in a 205,000-243,000 range this year, consistent with a historically low level of layoffs.

Companies have been hanging on to their workers following difficulties finding labor during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump's on-and-off again tariffs have created an uncertain economic environment, resulting in major companies from airlines to motor vehicle manufacturers

pulling their 2025 financial forecasts.

A National Federation of Independent Business survey this week showed the share of small businesses reporting job openings they could not fill dropped in April to the lowest level since January 2021.

Though the United States and China struck a 90-day truce in their trade war over the weekend, slashing tariffs on imports, uncertainty remained over what happens thereafter. A 10% blanket duty on almost all imports into the United States stayed in place as did sectoral taxes.

The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.881 million during the week ending May 3, the claims report showed. That aligns with a surge in the median duration of unemployment to 10.4 weeks in April from 9.8 weeks in March.

Following the reduction of the Chinese imports duty to 30% from 145% for a 90-day period, economists trimmed their estimates for unemployment this year. Goldman Sachs now sees the unemployment rate rising to 4.5% in December, down from 4.7% previously. The jobless rate was at 4.2% in April.