US initial jobless claims at 213,000, below estimates

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States last week came in below market expectations.

The US Department of Labor said on the 5th (local time) that initial jobless claims totaled 213,000 last week. That was 2,000 below the consensus forecast (215,000). The figure was unchanged from the prior week’s revised reading (213,000).

Continuing claims—filed for a second consecutive week—were tallied at 1,868,000. That is 46,000 higher than the prior week’s revised level (1,822,000). It was also 18,000 above market expectations (1,850,000).

Initial jobless claims are a key gauge for assessing whether the US labor market is overheating. A rise in claims can be interpreted as a sign that an overheated labor market is cooling.

Experts are closely watching employment indicators such as jobless claims to assess the impact of US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies on corporate decision-making.