U.S. states posted a surprise increase in initial jobless claims last week, rising further above a pandemic-era low from earlier this month.
The Labor Department released its weekly jobless claims report on Thursday morning and here are the main metrics from the print compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:
Initial unemployment claims, week ended September 18: 351,000 versus 320,000 expected, and a revised 335,000 during the prior week
Continuing claims, week ended September 11: 2.8 million versus 2.6 million expected, and a revised 2.7 million during the prior week
Despite the increase last week, new claims have come down significantly since the start of the year to close in on their weekly rate from before the pandemic. And even with last week’s increase in claims, the four-week moving average for filings came down by 750 to reach 335,750.
At the start of the month, new jobless claims dipped to 312,000, or their lowest level since March 2020, before ticking back up. Claims had come in at an average weekly pace of just over 200,000 per month throughout 2019.
Click here to see the full story from Emily McCormick in Yahoo Finance.