Initial unemployment insurance claims in the US at 247,000—higher than expected

Minseung Kang

Summary

It was reported that the number of new unemployment insurance claims in the United States was 247,000, exceeding the expected value.
The number of continuing unemployment insurance claims was 1,904,000, slightly lower than market expectations.
An increase in initial unemployment insurance claims suggests a cooling of the U.S. job market.

Last week, the number of new unemployment insurance claims in the United States exceeded market expectations.

According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on the 5th (local time), this week’s initial unemployment insurance claims numbered 247,000, surpassing the expected 236,000.

Meanwhile, continuing claims, which count people who have claimed unemployment insurance for two consecutive weeks, were 1,904,000, slightly below the expectation of 1,910,000.

The number of initial unemployment insurance claims is one of the indicators that can gauge the overheating status of the U.S. labor market. An increase in unemployment insurance claims means unemployed people are increasing, signaling a cooling of the job market.