PiCK

U.S. initial jobless claims at 206,000…well below forecasts

JOON HYOUNG LEE

Summary

U.S. initial jobless claims last week came in at 206,000, well below the forecast.
Continuing jobless claims totaled 1.869 million, slightly above both the prior week’s revised figure and the market forecast.
Initial jobless claims are an indicator of whether the U.S. labor market is overheating, and economists are monitoring employment data closely.

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

The U.S. Department of Labor said on the 19th (local time) that initial jobless claims totaled 206,000 last week. That is 17,000 below economists’ forecast of 223,000. It is also 23,000 fewer than the prior week’s 229,000.

Continuing claims—filed by those who claimed benefits for a second consecutive week—were tallied at 1.869 million. That is 17,000 higher than the prior week’s revised figure of 1.852 million. It is 9,000 above the market forecast of 1.86 million.

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

Economists are closely watching employment indicators such as jobless claims to assess how factors including U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies are affecting corporate decision-making.

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