US jobless claims surge during latest week

The number of Americans filing for unemployment surged at the start of 2021.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, initial unemployment claims soared by 181,000 over the week ending on 9 January to reach 965,000.

Economists had been expecting a dip from 787,000 to 775,000.

The four-week moving average for initial claims meanwhile increased by 18,250 to 834,250.

Secondary unemployment claims, which are those not being filed for the first time and which reference the preceding week, grew by 199,000 to approximately 5.27m.