The U.S. Labor Department reported a slight increase in first-time claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 25th. Initial jobless claims rose to 219,000, up by 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 216,000. This surpassed economists' expectations, who had predicted a rise to 218,000 from the initially reported 215,000.
Despite this uptick, Bernard Yaros, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, commented, "Initial jobless claims remain significantly below the threshold at which nonfarm payroll employment would be at risk of decline." He further noted that people are less likely to file for unemployment if they do not foresee a prolonged period without work, which is reflective of the current high job-finding rate for unemployed individuals compared to previous cycles.
The Labor Department also noted that the less volatile four-week moving average increased slightly to 222,500, up by 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 220,000. Additionally, the number of continuing claims—those receiving ongoing unemployment assistance—grew by 4,000 to 1.791 million for the week ending May 18th. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose, reaching 1,786,250, an increase of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,780,500.
The Labor Department is set to release its more comprehensive monthly employment report for May next Friday.
