US jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Thursday 15 Nov 2018
(Sharecast News) - US jobless claims edged only slightly higher last week, but some economists believed there were signs in the data that, at least for now, momentum in the jobs market might be topping out.
According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 10 November rose by 2,000 to reach 216,000.
Economists had penciled-in a reading of 210,000.
In parallel, the four-week moving average, which aims to smoothe out the fluctuations in the data from one week to the next, increased by 1,500 to 215,250.
Meanwhile, secondary unemployment claims, or those which are not being filed for the first time and referencing the week ending on 3 November, edged up by 7,000 to 1.630m.
"Claims have yet to return to the sub-210K pre-Hurricane Florence/Michael trend, and with each passing week it is becoming harder to argue that the storms are still the story," said Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"We see no good reason for a sustained rise in claims unless the trade war steps up another gear, but the downward momentum has drained from these numbers, at least for now."
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