Weekly US jobless claims rise by more than expected

Tightness in the US jobs market eased a bit further during the preceding week.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 27 July increased by 14,000 to reach 249,000.

Economists had pencilled in a smaller increase to 236,000 from an unrevised 235,000 for the week before.

The four-week moving average meanwhile, which aims to smooth out the fluctuations in the data from one week to the next, was up by 2,500 to 238,000.

Secondary unemployment claims, which are those not being field for the first time and referencing the week ending on 20 July, grew by 33,000 to reach 1.877m.

"Initial jobless claims rose more than expected in the week ended July 27, and while the claims data have been subject to a variety of special factors in recent weeks, they are on an uptrend, suggesting some pickup in layoff activity," said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics.

"[...] Fed Chair Jerome Powell also stated he doesn't want to see the labor market weaken materially. We expect the first rate cut to come in September."