US initial jobless claims unexpectedly rise
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, while the monthly average hit its highest level in a year, according to figures from the Labor Department.
US initial jobless claims increased by 4,000 from the previous week's revised level to 239,000, versus expectations for a level of 225,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 to 235,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 231,750, up 6,750 from the previous week's average, which was revised up by 250 to 225,000. This marks the highest level for this average since 27 January 2018, when it was 234,000.
The four-week average is considered more reliable as it smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly figures, giving a more accurate picture of the health of the labour market.
Continuing claims - i.e. the number of people already collecting unemployment benefits - rose to 1.773m from 1.736m the week before, versus expectations of 1.740m.
Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "The volatility in claims in recent months, due to the two hurricanes, the California fires, the government shutdown and the usual turn-of-the-year seasonal problems, ought now to be fading. But claims remain quite elevated, and it’s looking increasingly likely that the trend has turned up a bit.
"This is not necessarily a disaster, because GDP growth could not be sustained at last year’s tax cut-fuelled pace, so the final downshift in claims last spring and summer was not indicative of the real trend. If all that decline reverses, claims will stabilise at about 240K, which is still extremely low by historical standards. In short, we doubt these data are telling us anything about a fundamental turn in the labor market cycle."