US initial jobless claims unexpectedly rise

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, according to data from the Labor Department.

US initial jobless claims were up 15,000 to 258,000 from the previous week’s average, which was revised up to 243,000 from 241,000. Analysts had been expecting a drop to 240,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 240,000, up 1,000 from the previous week’s average, which was revised up to 239,000 from 237,250.

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.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "The Labor Deparment says no special factors lifted claims, but that's a technical point. We think claims were boosted by the severe weather across the north-east; storm Stella depressed temperatures well below seasonal norms and dropped heavy snow over a wide area.

"More broadly, we think claims readings around the 240K mark in Jan/Feb would have proved unsustainable even
without a major storm event."