U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Down To 210,000
March 21 2024 - 5:30AM
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A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday
unexpectedly showed a slight drop by first-time claims for U.S.
unemployment benefits in the week ended March 16th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to
210,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level
of 212,000.
The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to
rise to 215,000 from the 209,000 originally reported for the
previous week.
"While we expect job growth to moderate from the strong
January-February pace, initial claims remain well below levels that
would signal a severe slowdown in job creation," said Nancy Vanden
Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
"The Fed doesn't require to a significant weakening in the labor
market to begin cutting interest rates," she added. "Rather it
needs to be confident the job market is balanced enough to support
a continued slowing in wage growth."
Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving
average crept up to 211,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous
week's revised average of 208,750.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving
ongoing unemployment assistance, also rose by 4,000 to 1.807
million in the week ended March 9th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also climbed
to 1,802,250, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised
average of 1,797,250.
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