U.S. Initial Jobless Claims at 226,000—Exceeds Market Expectations

JOON HYOUNG LEE

Summary

The U.S. initial jobless claims reached 226,000, exceeding the market expectation.
Continuing jobless claims also totaled 1,974,000, surpassing both the forecast and the previous week’s revised figure.
Experts stated that they are monitoring changes in employment indicators.

The number of new unemployment claims in the United States last week surpassed market expectations.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on the 7th (local time) that new jobless claims for last week totaled 226,000. This figure exceeds the experts’ forecast of 221,000 claims by 5,000. Compared to the previous week’s revised number (219,000), it is an increase of 7,000 claims.

The number of continuing jobless claims, which represents those filing for benefits for two consecutive weeks, was tallied at 1,974,000. This is 38,000 higher than the previous week’s revised figure of 1,936,000 and 24,000 above the market estimate of 1,950,000.

Initial jobless claims serve as an indicator for assessing overheating in the U.S. labor market. A rise in unemployment claims can be interpreted as a sign that the previously overheated labor market is cooling.

Experts are closely monitoring employment indicators including jobless claims. This is to gauge the impact of President Donald Trump’s federal government restructuring and tariff hikes on corporate decision-making.

BTC