The data from
the Labour Department reported on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment surged more than expected last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits climbed by 20,000 to 243,000 for the week ended July 13. This marked the highest weekly total in five weeks.
Economists had predicted
230,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 223,000 from the original estimate of 222,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims jumped to 234,750 from an upwardly unrevised 233,750 (from 233,500) in the previous
week.
As for
continuing claims, they increased to 1,867,000 compared to a downwardly revised 1,847,000
(from 1,852,000) in the previous week. This was the highest reading since late
November 2021. Economists had projected continuing jobless claims of 1,860,000.