The data from the Labor Department showed on Thursday the number of
applications for unemployment unexpectedly increased last week.
According to the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits rose
by 23,000 to 248,000 for the week ended February 12. This was the highest
weekly total in three weeks.
Economists had forecast 219,000 new claims last week.
Claims for
the prior week were revised upwardly to 225,000 from the initial estimate of 223,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of jobless claims fell to 243,250
from an upwardly revised 253,750 (from 253,250) in the previous week. This
represented the lowest count since mid-January (232,000).
As for continuing claims, they decreased to 1,593,000
from a downwardly revised 1,619,000 (from 1,621,000) in the previous week. This
was the lowest total since the week ended January 1 (1,555,000).