Jobless claims rebound
from 43-year low, labor market still firming
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[November 23, 2016]
WASHINGTON,
Nov 23 (Reuters) - - The number of Americans filing for unemployment
benefits rose from a 43-year low last week, but remained below a level
that is consistent with a tightening labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 18,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 251,000 for the week ended Nov. 19, the Labor
Department said on Wednesday.
Claims for the prior week were revised to show 2,000 fewer applications
filed than previously reported.
Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a
healthy labor market, for 90 straight weeks. 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 250,000 in the latest week. The claims report
was released a day early because of the Thanksgiving holiday on
Thursday.
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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, fell 2,000 to
251,000 last week.
The strong labor market, viewed as being at or near full employment, 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.
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![](../images/112316pics/busine27.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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Thursday's claims report also showed the number of people still
receiving benefits after an initial week of aid rose 60,000 to 2.04
million in the week ended Nov. 12.
The four-week average of the so-called continuing claims edged up 750 to
2.02 million. The continuing claims data covered the period during which
the government surveyed households for November's unemployment rate.
The four-week average of continuing claims fell 26,750 between the
October and November survey periods, suggesting some improvement in the
unemployment rate. The jobless rate was at 4.9 percent in October.
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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