US Initial Jobless Claims at 227,000, Below Expectations

Minseung Kang

Summary

US initial jobless claims came in at 227,000, below the expected 230,000.
Continued jobless claims were 1,903,000, exceeding expectations.
The decrease in initial jobless claims suggests the strength of the US labor market.

Last week's US initial jobless claims fell short of market expectations.

According to the US Department of Labor's report on the 22nd (local time), this week's initial jobless claims were 227,000, below the expected 230,000.

The number of continued jobless claims, which refers to those who have filed for unemployment benefits for two consecutive weeks, was 1,903,000, exceeding the expectation of 1,890,000.

Initial jobless claims are a key indicator for assessing whether the US labor market is overheating. A decrease in this figure can be interpreted as a sign that the labor market remains robust.