A recent report from the Labor Department, released on Thursday, indicates a surprising dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ending September 21st.
The initial jobless claims decreased to 218,000, down 4,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 222,000. Economists had anticipated an increase to 225,000 from the originally reported 219,000 for the prior week.
This unexpected drop brings jobless claims to their lowest point since May 18th, when they were at 216,000.
"Overall, the claims data suggest a labor market that has cooled somewhat but remains robust, evidenced by a low rate of layoffs," stated Grace Zwemmer, Associate U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. "The recent FOMC meeting reflected the Fed officials' similar assessment of the labor market. However, they plan to reduce rates more aggressively to stave off any further weakening of labor conditions."
Additionally, the report noted that the less volatile four-week moving average of initial claims fell to 224,750, marking a decrease of 3,500 from the previous revised average of 228,250.
However, continuing claims, which track the number of individuals receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, increased by 13,000 to 1.834 million for the week ending September 14th. Despite this, the four-week moving average of continuing claims dropped to 1,835,750, down 6,500 from the previous week's revised average of 1,842,250.
Looking ahead, the Labor Department is set to release its highly anticipated monthly employment report for September next Friday.
