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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 3,000
to a seasonally adjusted 250,000 for the week ended Dec. 30, the
Labor Department said on Thursday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to
240,000 in the latest week. Claims tend to be volatile around
holidays. Data for California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana,
Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
and Wyoming were estimated.
In addition, the Labor Department said claims-taking procedures
continued to be disrupted in the Virgin Islands months after
Hurricanes Irma and Maria battered the islands.
It said claims processing in Puerto Rico was still not back to
normal.
Last week marked the 148th 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.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve's Dec. 12-13 policy meeting
published on Wednesday showed officials at the U.S. central bank
upbeat about the economy and labor market prospects. Fed
officials viewed economic activity as "rising at a solid rate,"
and the labor market as continuing to strengthen.
The central bank raised interest rates three times last year and
has forecast three rate hikes in 2018.
Some economists, however, expect the Fed to increase borrowing
costs four times this year, citing the $1.5 trillion tax cut
package passed by the Republican-led U.S. Congress and signed
into law by President Donald Trump last month.
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, increased 3,500 to 241,750.
The claims report has no impact on December's employment report,
due to be released on Friday. According to a Reuters survey of
economists, nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 190,000 in
December after gaining 228,000 in November.
The unemployment rate is seen unchanged at 4.1 percent.
Thursday's claims report also showed the number of people
receiving benefits after an initial week of aid dropped 37,000
to 1.91 million in the week ended Dec. 23.
The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims
rose 750 to 1.92 million.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao, Chizu
Nomiyama and Frances Kerry)
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