Procter & Gamble to cut up to 7,000 jobs

Procter & Gamble will cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years as the maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers implements a restructuring program at a time when tariffs are raising costs for American companies and consumers are growing anxious about the economy.

The job cuts, announced at the Deutsche Bank Consumer Conference in Paris on Thursday, make up approximately 6% of the company’s global workforce, or about 15% of its nonmanufacturing positions, said Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten.

“This restructuring program is an important step toward ensuring our ability to deliver our long-term algorithm over the coming two to three years,” Schulten said. “It does not, however, remove the near-term challenges that we currently face.”

Jobless claims hit 8-month high

Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in eight months last week but remain historically low despite growing uncertainty about how tariffs could impact the broader economy.

New applications for jobless benefits rose by 8,000 to 247,000 for the week ending May 31, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the most since early October. Analysts had forecast 237,000 new applications.

A separate job openings report, released Tuesday, showed that the number of Americans quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects — fell, while layoffs ticked higher.

And in another sign the job market has cooled from the hiring boom of 2021-2023, the Labor Department reported one job every unemployed person. As recently as December 2022, there were two vacancies for every jobless American.

— Boston Herald Wire Services