U.S. weekly jobless claims rebound from near 45-year
lows
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[February 15, 2018] WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits
rebounded from a near 45-year low last week, but remained below a level
that is associated with a tightening labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 7,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 230,000 for the week ended Feb. 10, the Labor
Department said on Thursday. Claims for the prior week were revised to
show 2,000 more applications received than previously reported.
Claims fell to 216,000 in mid-January, which was the lowest level since
January 1973. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to
230,000 in the latest week.
Last week marked the 154th straight week that claims remained below the
300,000 threshold, which is associated with a strong labor market. That
is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much
smaller.

The labor market is near full employment, with the jobless rate at a
17-year low of 4.1 percent. The tighter labor market is starting to
exert upward pressure on wage growth, which will over time add to
inflation pressures.
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A man holds his briefcase while waiting in line during a job fair in
Melville, New York July 19, 2012. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/Files

The Labor Department said claims for Maine were estimated last week. It also
said claims-taking procedures in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands had still
not returned to normal, months after the territories were slammed by Hurricanes
Irma and Maria.
Last week, the four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a better
measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose
3,500 to 228,500.
The claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an
initial week of aid increased 15,000 to 1.94 million in the week ended Feb. 3.
The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims fell 5,750 to
1.94 million.
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci; Lucia.Mutikani@thomsonreuters.com;
1 202 898 8315; Reuters Messaging: lucia.mutikani.
thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
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