The data from
the Labour Department revealed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment increased more than forecast last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 to 232,000 for the week ended August 17. This marked the first gain in first-time unemployment
claims in three weeks.
Economists had forecast
230,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week were revised upwardly to 238,000
from the original estimate of 227,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims slipped to 236,000 from an upwardly revised 236,750 (from 236,500) in the previous week.
This was the lowest count in four weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they increased to 1,863,000 compared to a downwardly revised 1,859,000
(from 1,864,000) in the previous week. Economists had predicted continuing jobless claims of 1,870,000.