A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 5th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims crept up to 225,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 218,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 217,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 218,750, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average of 219,000.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, inched up by 6,000 to 1.493 million in the week October 29th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims rose to 1,450,250, an increase of 32,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,418,000.
Last Friday, the Labor Department released a separate report showing employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of October.
The report showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 261,000 jobs in October after surging by an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in September.
Economists had expected employment to climb by about 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 263,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report showed the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent in October from 3.5 percent in September. The unemployment rate was expected to inch up to 3.6 percent.
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