The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday that the number of applications for unemployment rose less than anticipated last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits increased by 2,000 to 223,000 for the week that ended March 15. This
marked the first gain in first-time unemployment claims in three weeks.
Economists had predicted
224,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week were revised upwardly to 221,000 from
the original estimate of 220,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims advanced to 227,000 from an upwardly revised 226,250 (from 226,000) in the previous week. This represented
the highest count since the week ended November 2,
2024 (227,250).
As for
continuing claims, they grew to 1,892,000 from a downwardly revised
1,590,000 (from 1,870,000) in the previous week. Economists had forecast continuing jobless claims of 1,890,000.