US Weekly Jobless Claims Rise to 214,000, Above Estimates
Summary
- The U.S. Labor Department said weekly initial jobless claims totaled 214,000 last week, above the forecast of 211,000.
- Continuing jobless claims came in at 1.821 million, slightly above both the prior week’s revised figure and the market estimate.
- Economists said the increase in initial jobless claims can be interpreted as a sign that overheating in the U.S. labor market is beginning to ease.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
U.S. initial jobless claims rose above market expectations last week.
The Labor Department said April 23 that initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 214,000 last week. That was 3,000 higher than economists’ forecast of 211,000 and up 6,000 from the prior week’s revised 208,000.
Continuing claims, which track Americans receiving benefits for a second straight week, totaled 1.821 million. That was 12,000 above the prior week’s revised 1.809 million and 1,000 higher than the market estimate of 1.82 million.
Initial jobless claims are a closely watched indicator of conditions in the U.S. labor market. An increase in claims can signal that an overheated labor market is beginning to cool.
Economists are closely monitoring employment indicators such as jobless claims to gauge how President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies are affecting corporate decision-making.
JOON HYOUNG LEE
gilson@bloomingbit.ioCrypto Journalist based in Seoul
