US initial jobless claims unexpectedly rise
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
US initial jobless claims increased by 3,000 to 250,000 from the previous week's level, which was revised up by 2,000. Economists had been expecting a drop to 240,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 241,750, up 3,500 from the previous week's average, which was revised up by 500 to 238,250.
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.
The Labor Department said claims taking procedures continue to be disrupted in the Virgin Islands, while the process in Puerto Rico has still not returned to normal.
Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, said he wouldn’t read too much into the increase. "Claims are notoriously volatile at the best of times and particularly around holidays. The bottom line is that claims remain at an unusually low level, providing more evidence of labour market strength."
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "This is the third straight overshoot to consensus but the numbers have been boosted by holiday seasonal adjustment problems, which will reverse in due course. Next week, for example, we think claims will drop to just 230K or so. The underlying trend is stable or perhaps falling slowly, and is in the upper 230s. The recent data are nothing to worry about; at this point in the cycle what matters is labor demand, which remains very strong indeed."