U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise 11,000 To261,000
Editor's Note: Updating earlier story to include more details from report.
(Kitco News) - Initialweekly U.S. jobless claims rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 261,000in the week to Saturday, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Thiswas more than consensus forecasts compiled by various news organizations, whichcalled for initial claims to be around 245,000 to 248,000. The government left theprior week’s tally unrevised at 250,000 claims.
“Claimstaking procedures continue to be disrupted in the Virgin Islands,” the LaborDepartment said, referring to areas hit by storms last year. “The claims takingprocess in Puerto Rico has still not returned to normal.”
Meanwhile,the four-week moving average for new claims - often viewed as a more reliablemeasure of the labor market since it smoothens out week-to-week volatility -was up by 9,000 claims to 250,750.
Continuingjobless claims, the number of people already receiving benefits and reported witha one-week delay, decreased by 35,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1,867,000 duringthe week ending Dec. 30, the government said. This is the lowest level since1973. The four-week moving average fell by 5,500 to 1,913,250.
Tradersmonitor jobs data closely to gauge how aggressively the U.S. Federal OpenMarket Committee alters monetary policy.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
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