The Labor Department released its latest figures on Thursday, indicating that initial jobless claims in the U.S. continued to rise for the week ending January 18th, following a recent rebound. The report detailed that first-time claims increased by 6,000, reaching 223,000 from the previous week's stable figure of 217,000. This surpassed economists' predicted slight increase to 220,000.
The uptick reflects a gradual recovery from the nearly eleven-month low observed during the week ending January 4th. Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, noted that increased claims in California, potentially due to recent fires, contributed to the rise. However, she emphasized that claims remain at levels indicative of relatively minimal layoffs.
Additionally, the less volatile four-week moving average of jobless claims rose to 213,500, marking an increase of 750 from the prior unchanged average of 212,750.
Continuing claims, which account for individuals already receiving unemployment support, saw an increase of 46,000, reaching 1.899 million for the week ending January 11th—the highest since November 2021. The four-week moving average for these continuing claims also edged up slightly to 1,865,750, a rise of 500 from the previous week's revised figure of 1,865,250.
Vanden Houten further indicated that while the level of continued claims aligns with a low layoff rate, it suggests challenges in re-employment, given the overall tepid hiring rates within the labor market.
