A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest rebound in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 21st.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 210,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 200,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 208,000 from the 198,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The uptick came after jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 199,000 in the week ended January 28th in the previous week.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 207,500, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average 206,250.
In the previous week, the four-week moving average dipped to its lowest level since hitting 203,250 in the week ended February 4th.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, climbed by 63,000 to 1.790 million in the week ended October 14th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,723,500, an increase of 31,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,692,250.
Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, noted continuing claims increased for the third consecutive week, climbing to their highest level since May.
“The upturn in continued claims suggests that, while the labor market may be characterized by few job losses, unemployed individuals are finding it more difficult to find new jobs, which would be consistent with a slower pace of hiring,” Vanden Houten said.
Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of October.
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