Initial jobless claims rise to six-month high

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, to a six-month high, according to figures from the Labor Department.

US initial jobless claims increased 10,000 from the previous week's level to 234,000, versus expectations for a drop to 220,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 223,250, up 4,750 from the previous week's level of 218,500.

The four-week average is considered more reliable as it smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly figures, giving a more accurate picture of the health of the labour market.

Continuing claims - i.e. the number of people already collecting unemployment benefits - rose to 1.710 million from 1.660m the week before, versus expectations for a level of 1.664m. The previous week's level was revised down by 8,000.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said this was nothing to worry about as the numbers will have been pushed up by a seasonal adjustment problem due to the early Thanksgiving holiday .

"History shows clearly that claims spike in the week of Thanksgiving when the holiday falls on Nov 22, the earliest possible date. The only exception in recent times is 2012, when claims were falling as the surge triggered by Hurricane Sandy overwhelmed the Thanksgiving distortion.

"Claims will drop back next week, probably by 10 to 15K. Stepping back a bit further, the trend in claims appears to have risen a bit over the past couple of months, but Hurricanes Florence and Michael likely have played some part in lifting the numbers. The data will be noisy over the holidays, as usual, but the true underlying trend should be visible again by mid-January, winter weather permitting."