WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits inched up modestly as businesses continue to retain staff despite economic uncertainty around U.S. trade policy.

The Labor Department reported that jobless claims for the week ending July 26 ticked up by 1,000 to 218,000, less than the 225,000 new applications analysts forecast.

It was the first time in seven weeks that benefit applications rose, although layoffs remain at historically low levels.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as representative of U.S. layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since COVID-19 throttled the economy in the spring of 2020, wiping out millions of jobs.

Earlier in July, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 147,000 jobs in June, adding to evidence that the American labor market continues to show resilience despite uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. The job gains were much more than expected and the unemployment rate ticked down 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent in May.

Last week, government data showed that employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in June, down from 7.7 million in May. The number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects elsewhere — fell in June to the lowest level since December. Hiring also fell from May.

The Labor Department’s report also said that the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week fluctuations, fell by 3,500 to 221,000.

The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of July 19 was unchanged at 1.95 million.