U.S. Jobless Claims Climb More Than Expected To 209,000

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed by more than expected in the week ended August 8th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 209,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 200,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 203,000 from the 199,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Jobless claims increased for the third consecutive week, bouncing further off their lowest levels since September 1969.

"Initial jobless claims rose back above 200,000 in the week ended August 8, but the signal is still that layoffs are low and labor market conditions have improved," said Matthew Martin, Senior U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, "There was minimal impact from those states affected by recent wildfires after thousands were evacuated, but it may be too early to determine the final impact."

The Labor Department also said the less volatile four-week moving average came in at 199,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised average.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment benefits, fell by 22,000 to 1.777 million in the week ended August 1.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also dipped to 1,785,500, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,790,750.

A more closely watched report released by the Labor Department last Friday showed employment in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of July.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment fell by 23,000 jobs in July after rising by a downwardly revised 20,000 jobs in June.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 88,000 jobs compared to the addition of 57,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent in July from 4.2 percent in June. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.