The data from
the Labour Department revealed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment unexpectedly jumped last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits climbed by
9,000 to 224,000 for the week ended January
27. This marked the highest weekly total
reading since mid-November 2023.
Economists had forecast
212,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 215,000 from the original estimate of 214,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims jumped to 207,750 from an upwardly revised 202,500 (from 202,250)
in the previous week. This was the first increase in five weeks and represented
the highest count since early January.
As for
continuing claims, they leapt to 1,898,000 from a downwardly
revised 1,828,000 (from 1,833,000) in the previous week. This marked the highest
reading since
the week ended November 18, 2023 (1,925,000). Economists had expected continuing jobless claims of 1,840,000.