The data from the
Labour Department revealed on Thursday
that the number of applications for unemployment rose more than
expected last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits increased by 6,000 to 223,000 for the week that ended January 18. This was the highest reading since early
December 2024.
Economists had forecast
220,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the
prior week were left unrevised at 217,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims rose to 213,500 from
an unrevised 212,750 in the previous week. This marked the
first gain in four weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they increased to 1,899,000 from a downwardly revised
1,853,000 (from 1,859,000) in the previous week. This represented the highest
reading since
the week ended November 9, 2024 (~1,910,000). Economists had anticipated continuing jobless claims of 1,860,000.