US initial jobless claims come in worse than expected at 351,000

Jobless claims grew to their highest level in almost a month in the week ended 18 September, according to the Labor Department.

Initial claims came to 351,000 last week, up from the previous week's upwardly revised total of 335,000 and significantly ahead of estimates for a reading of 320,000.

Continuing claims also grew, jumping by 181,000 to over 2.84m.

On the other hand, the four-week moving average for initial claims dropped to 335,750, a decrease of 750 week-on-week, while the four-week moving average for continuing claims fell by 15,750 to just over 2.8m.

Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdon said: "Claims were boosted by a combination of relatively unfriendly seasonals and, we think, claims triggered by Hurricane Ida but delayed until after the chaos subsided.

"We doubt the Delta Covid wave is a significant part of the story, because cases have been rising for a couple months, but claims have declined. Instead. hiring appears to have taken most of the strain. The trend in claims likely will continues to fall, slowly, but the seasonals likely will prevent new lows until November."