U.S. initial jobless claims 191,000…far below expectations

JOON HYOUNG LEE

Summary

U.S. initial jobless claims were 191,000, well below the market forecast of 219,000.
Continuing jobless claims were also 1,939,000, lower than the expected 1,960,000.
Experts said such employment indicators are used to assess whether the U.S. labor market is overheated and to inform corporate decision-making.

Last week, U.S. initial jobless claims came in well below market expectations.

The U.S. Department of Labor said on the 4th (local time) that initial jobless claims last week totaled 191,000. This figure was 28,000 fewer than the experts' forecast (219,000). Compared with the previous week's revised figure (218,000), it was 27,000 fewer.

Continuing jobless claims, filed by those claiming unemployment benefits for two consecutive weeks, were 1,939,000. That was 4,000 fewer than the previous week's revised figure (1,943,000). Compared with the market expectation (1,960,000), it was 21,000 fewer.

Initial jobless claims are an indicator that can gauge overheating in the U.S. labor market. An increase in claims can be interpreted as the overheated labor market cooling.

Experts are watching employment indicators such as jobless claims to gauge the impact of aggressive tariff policies by U.S. President Donald Trump on corporate decision-making.

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