The flow of abysmal U.S. economic data continued Thursday with the release of figures showing that the number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits has reached its highest level in nearly four years, heightening concerns that the Trump administration is pushing the country toward a period of "stagflation."

”Today's unemployment report, coupled with last week's jobs data, suggests that we're fast stumbling into stagflation, with fledgling jobs growth and rising prices," Andrew Stettner, unemployment insurance expert at The Century Foundation, said in a statement following the new Labor Department numbers.

'We're Fast Stumbling Into Stagflation,' Expert Warns as Unemployment Rolls Hit 4-Year High Under Trump

"In contrast with the president's assertion of bustling job creation," said The Century Foundation's Andrew Stettner, "Americans can't get off of unemployment benefits in an economy that has stopped adding jobs outside of healthcare."

^{jake-johnson (Common Dreams)}

For the first time, Washington state’s attorney general has enforced the state’s new cap on rent hikes, fining eight landlords $2,000 each for violating the law.

House Bill 1217 took effect in early May. The landlords told tenants before that time about rent increases that would exceed the new maximums. But these increases were tied to leases that renewed after the law took effect, according to the attorney general’s office. For example, one rent increase for a tenant in Lakewood would have begun June 22.

In each case, the attorney general notified the landlords that their rent hikes were illegal. All the landlords rescinded them and refunded any payments tenants made under the unlawful increases, according to court filings.

Landlords fined for first time under WA’s new law capping rent increases

For the first time, Washington’s attorney general has enforced the state’s new cap on rent hikes, fining eight landlords $2,000 each for violating the law.

^{Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard (KUOW Public Radio)}