Weekly initial US jobless claims dip unexpectedly

Unemployment claims in the U.S. being filed for the first time dipped unexpectedly during the preceding week.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of initial unemployment claims slipped by 1,000 over the week ending on 9 March to reach 209,000.

Economists had anticipated a rise to 218,000.

The four-week moving average on the other hand, which aims to smooth out the variations in the data from one week to the next, declined by 500 to 208,000.

Secondary claims, which are those not being filed for the first time and referencing the week that ended on 2 March, were up by 17,000 to 1.811m.

Notably, the estimate of secondary claims for the week that ended on 24 February was revised down by a large 112,000.

As well, the latest weekly figures incorporated the latest annual revision to the seasonal adjustment factors for weekly unemployment claims.

"The revised data for continued claims are consistent with a job market that is showing some signs of loosening but is still relatively strong", Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics said in a research note sent to clients.

"Our current forecast is for the Fed to begin lowering rates at its May meeting, but a healthy labor market and sticky inflation data have increased the risk the first cut comes later. A delay in cutting rates by a meeting or two, would not have a significant impact on our economic forecast."