The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment climbed more than expected last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits soared by
25,000 to 214,000 for the week ended January
20. This marked the first increase in first-time unemployment claims in four
weeks and represented the highest weekly total since the
week that ended December 23, 2023 (220,000).
Economists had forecast
200,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 189,000 from the original estimate of 187,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims decreased to 202,250 from an upwardly revised 203,750 (from
203,250) in the previous week. This was the lowest count since
the week that ended January 28, 2023 (199,500).
As for
continuing claims, they rose to 1,833,000 from an unrevised 1,806,000 in the previous
week. This was the first gain in four weeks. Economists had predicted continuing jobless claims of
1,828,000.