As the release of the monthly jobs report approaches, the Labor Department has issued a report indicating an increase in initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ending September 28.
According to the report, initial jobless claims climbed to 225,000 last week, marking an increase of 6,000 from the prior week's adjusted figure of 219,000. This increase surpassed economists' expectations, who had predicted a slight rise to 220,000 from the originally reported figure of 218,000.
This larger-than-anticipated rise followed a period where jobless claims had reached their lowest point since the week ending May 18, where figures hit 216,000.
"While initial jobless claims rose marginally more than anticipated for the week ending September 28, they remain below levels that would suggest any significant weakening in the labor market," noted Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
Vanden Houten continued, "Labor market dynamics will be crucial in determining whether the Federal Reserve opts to cut interest rates by 25 basis points or 50 basis points at its next meeting. We will complete our October baseline forecast following the release of the September employment report tomorrow."
Concurrently, the Labor Department reported a slight decrease in the more stable four-week moving average, which fell to 224,250, down 750 from the revised average of 225,000 from the preceding week.
The report also highlighted a decrease in continuing claims, reflecting the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, which diminished by 1,000 to 1.826 million for the week ending September 21. Similarly, the four-week moving average of continuing claims decreased to 1,829,250, down 4,750 from the previous week's revised total of 1,834,000.
The Labor Department is poised to release its eagerly awaited employment situation report for September on Friday. Current economist forecasts suggest that employment will increase by 140,000 jobs in September, following an increase of 142,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate is projected to remain steady at 4.2 percent.
