The number of new unemployment insurance claims in the United States and the number of continuing recipients have both hit two-month highs, suggesting a cooling labor market.
Key Point
- The number of new unemployment insurance applications (the week ending January 27) was 224,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week.
- The median forecast in the Bloomberg survey is 212,000.
- The number of people still receiving unemployment insurance benefits (week ending January 20th) increased to 1.9 million.
The four-week rolling average of jobless claims rose to 207,750, the biggest increase since November last year. Since the number of unemployment insurance claims varies widely, moving averages can be used to analyze trends that prevent short-term fluctuations.
Before seasonal adjustment, the number increased by 11,000 to around 261,000. By state, the increase was most pronounced in California, New York and Oregon.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States unexpectedly climbed by 9,000 last week to a two-month high of 224,000. Michael McKee reports on Bloomberg Television.
Source: Bloomberg
“The data continues to show that layoffs are not rising,” Rubeela Faruqui, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a note. Rather, it is being driven by a slowdown in employment, which is welcome news.”
Anna Wong and Eliza Winger of Bloomberg Economics say the low level of jobless claims is due to factors related to the coronavirus pandemic and is therefore not a reliable indicator of the current state of the labor market. In a recent report, they said that unemployment claims are at historic lows due to lack of qualification and weekly benefits not keeping up with inflation It indicates that more people may be looking for part-time work than applying.
See the table for detailed statistics.
Original title: US Jobless Claims Rise to Two-Month High as Labor Market Cools (excerpt)
(Updates with last two paragraphs)
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