U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Slightly Higher

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits inched slightly higher in the week ended December 2nd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims ticked up to 220,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 219,000.

Economist had expected jobless claims to rise to 222,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 220,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 220,250.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 64,000 to 1.861 million in the week ended November 25th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still rose by 7,000 to 1,872,250, reaching the highest level since hitting 1,888,250 in the week ended December 11, 2021.

“Initial claims remain at a level that is consistent with relatively low layoffs, while the continued claims data suggest that some unemployed individuals may be finding it more difficult to find new jobs,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, “We think the claims data, along with other recent labor market statistics, are consistent with a job market that is cooling enough to rule out further rate hikes, but still healthy enough to preclude rate cuts from consideration any time soon.”

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of November.

Economists currently expect employment to increase by 180,000 jobs in November after rising by 150,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.9 percent.

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