US initial jobless claims rise less than expected
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, according to data from the Labor Department.
US initial jobless claims were up 10,000 to 247,000 from the previous week’s level, which was revised up by 2,000. Economists had been expecting a bigger jump to 255,000.
This marked the 97th consecutive week of initial claims below 300,000 – the longest streak since 1970.
The four-week moving average came in at 256,500, down 1,750 from the previous week’s average, which was revised up from 256,750 to 258,250.
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.
Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "Two low readings in weekly data don't make a trend, especially around the holidays. The claims numbers are volatile at this time of year and short runs of data need to be viewed with
skepticism.
"We think the trend in claims remains in the 250-to-260K range and expect the numbers to head there over the next few weeks. In any event, note that most of the variation in payroll growth over the past year can be traced back to shifts in hiring intentions, not the pace of layoffs. Hiring appears to have picked up in recent months and we think a return to 200K payroll gains in Q1 is a decent bet."