FX.co ★ U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected

A day before the anticipated release of the comprehensive monthly employment report, the U.S. Labor Department issued a statement on Thursday indicating a slight rise in initial claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending November 30th.

The data reveals that initial jobless claims increased to 224,000, a 9,000 uptick from the prior week's adjusted figure of 215,000. Economists had projected a minor rise to 215,000 from the initially reported 213,000 for the previous week.

With this revision, jobless claims recorded for the week ended November 23rd remain consistent with figures for the week ending November 16th, both standing at the lowest level since claims hit 209,000 during the week ending April 27th.

According to Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, “Initial jobless claims were slightly above expectations for the week ending November 30, yet they still reflect a relatively subdued level of layoffs.” She further elaborated, “However, layoff mentions have increased in recent weeks, notably within the manufacturing sector.”

The Labor Department also reported that the less volatile four-week moving average incremented to 218,250, a rise of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 217,500.

In contrast, continuing claims, which represent the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment aid, fell by 25,000 to 1.871 million during the week ended November 23rd. Furthermore, the four-week moving average of continuing claims reduced to 1,884,250, a decline of 3,250 from the prior week's revised average of 1,887,500.

Vanden Houten noted, "Continued claims receded in the week ending November 30, reaching their lowest level since mid-October." She added, "While states severely affected by recent hurricanes still experience higher continued claims, North Carolina is observing a gradual decrease."

On Friday, the Labor Department is poised to release its extensively monitored report on November's employment situation. Economists forecast a significant increase of 200,000 jobs for November, following a marginal gain of 12,000 jobs in October. The unemployment rate is anticipated to slightly rise to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent.