The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday that the number of applications for unemployment rose more than forecast last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits climbed by 14,000 to 217,000 for the week that ended January 11. This
marked the first gain in first-time unemployment claims in five weeks and the highest reading in three weeks.
Economists had predicted
210,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 203,000 from the original estimate of 201,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims fell to 212,750 from
an upwardly revised 213,500 (from 213,000) in the previous week. This represented the lowest count since the week ended April 27, 2024 (210,250).
As for
continuing claims, they dropped to 1,859,000 from an unrevised 1,867,000 in the previous week. Economists had foreseen continuing jobless claims of 1,870,000.