U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rebound More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - After reporting first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits at their lowest level in over a year in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing initial jobless claims rebounded by more than expected in the week ended January 20th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 214,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level of 189,000.

Economists had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 200,000 from the 187,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Despite the upward revision, jobless claims in the previous week were still at their lowest level since hitting 182,000 in the week ended September 24, 2022.

"Initial jobless claims rose more than expected in the week ended January 20, as lingering seasonal noise contributed to another big swing in claims," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 202,250, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 203,750.

The Labor Department also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 27,000 to 1.833 million in the week ended January 13th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still fell to 1,835,000, a decrease of 13,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,848,250.

"The seasonal volatility in claims is largely behind us. We may see a modest rise in claims as labor market conditions ease further as growth slows in 2024," said Vanden Houten. "We don't expect a sharp rise in claims, however, as we look for job growth to slow, but remain positive."

Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on the employment situation in the month of January.