The number of Americans claiming first-time unemployment
benefits rose for the second week in a row, a
possible sign that the labor market lost a bit of momentum.
Initial jobless claims, an indication of layoffs, increased by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000 in the week ended March 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was above economists' forecast of 340,000 new claims.
The latest week's gain came after claims rose 7,000 to a revised 341,000 in the week ended March 16.
The four-week moving average, which smoothes out week-to-week volatility in the data
, rose by 2,250 to 343,000. Even
with the slight rise, the level remains below the 400,000 that economists believe is the threshold indicating a
strengthening labor market.
benefits rose for the second week in a row, a
possible sign that the labor market lost a bit of momentum.
Initial jobless claims, an indication of layoffs, increased by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000 in the week ended March 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was above economists' forecast of 340,000 new claims.
The latest week's gain came after claims rose 7,000 to a revised 341,000 in the week ended March 16.
The four-week moving average, which smoothes out week-to-week volatility in the data
, rose by 2,250 to 343,000. Even
with the slight rise, the level remains below the 400,000 that economists believe is the threshold indicating a
strengthening labor market.
No comments:
Post a Comment