PiCK
US Initial Jobless Claims Rise to 219,000, Above Forecast
Summary
- The U.S. Labor Department said last week’s initial jobless claims totaled 219,000, above economists’ forecast of 210,000.
- Continuing jobless claims totaled 1.794 million, below both the previous week’s revised figure and market expectations.
- Economists are watching employment indicators such as jobless claims to assess the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
U.S. initial jobless claims came in above market expectations last week.
The Labor Department said on May 9 that initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 219,000. That was 9,000 higher than economists’ forecast of 210,000 and up 16,000 from the prior week’s revised 203,000.
Continuing claims, which track the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for two consecutive weeks, totaled 1.794 million. That was down 38,000 from the prior week’s revised 1.832 million and 46,000 below the market forecast of 1.84 million.
Initial jobless claims are a closely watched indicator of strains in the U.S. labor market. An increase in claims can signal that an overheated labor market is starting to cool.
Economists are monitoring employment indicators, including jobless claims, to assess how companies’ decision-making is being affected by aggressive tariff policies under U.S. President Donald Trump.
JOON HYOUNG LEE
gilson@bloomingbit.ioCrypto Journalist based in Seoul
