Jobless claims rise to
five-month high
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[December 01, 2016]
WASHINGTON,
Dec 1 (Reuters) - - The number of Americans filing for unemployment
benefits rose more than expected last week, hitting their highest level
in five months, but the underlying trend remained consistent with a
strengthening labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 17,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 268,000 for the week ended Nov. 26, the Labor
Department said on Thursday. That was the highest level since June and
marked the second straight week of increases.
Claims for the prior week were unrevised.
Despite the increase, claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, which
is associated with a healthy labor market, for the 91st straight week.
That is the longest run since 1970, when the labor market was much
smaller.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time applications for
jobless benefits rising to 253,000 in the latest week.
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Claims, which hit a 43-year low in mid-November, tend to be volatile
around this time of the year as the model the government uses to strip
out seasonal fluctuations from the data does not fully account for
changes in the timings of different holidays.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors
influencing last week's data and that no states had been estimated. The
four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor
market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, edged up 500 to
251,500 last week.
Last week's claims data has no bearing on November's employment report,
which is scheduled for release on Friday, as it falls outside the survey
period.
New filings for jobless benefits fell between the October and November
survey weeks, supporting expectations for another month of solid
employment gains. According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm
payrolls probably increased by 175,000 jobs last month after rising
161,000 in October.
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![](../images/120116pics/busine17.jpg)
People enter the Nassau County Mega Job Fair at Nassau Veterans
Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York October 7, 2014.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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The strong labor market, viewed as being at or near full employment,
combined with signs of a firming economy and steadily rising inflation
are expected to encourage the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates at
its Dec. 13-14 policy meeting.
The U.S. central bank raised its benchmark overnight interest rate last
December for the first time in nearly a decade.
Thursday's claims report also showed the number of people still
receiving benefits after an initial week of aid increased 38,000 to 2.08
million in the week ended Nov. 19. The four-week average of the
so-called continuing claims rose 12,750 to 2.04 million.
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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