The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in the last week of March rose to the highest level in a month, but initial claims continued to hover near the lowest level since the end of the last recession.New jobless claims jumped by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000 in the week ended March 29, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had expected claims to rise to 320,000 from last week’s revised level of 310,000.
Initial jobless claims are a gauge of whether layoffs are rising or falling and changes in the number of people seeking benefits tend to correlate over time with how many net jobs the economy is producing.
The average of new claims over the past month increased by 250 to 319,500, but it was just the fourth-lowest reading since the recession ended in June 2009. The monthly figure smooths out the jumpiness in the weekly data and offers a better look at the underlying trend.
“Despite the weaker end to the month, the trend of improving claims appears to be continuing after the early 2014 run-up.The low readings in the monthly average over the past few weeks might suggest the labor market is starting to recover a bit after a year end spin caused in part by harsh winter weather.
Initial jobless claims are a gauge of whether layoffs are rising or falling and changes in the number of people seeking benefits tend to correlate over time with how many net jobs the economy is producing.
The average of new claims over the past month increased by 250 to 319,500, but it was just the fourth-lowest reading since the recession ended in June 2009. The monthly figure smooths out the jumpiness in the weekly data and offers a better look at the underlying trend.
“Despite the weaker end to the month, the trend of improving claims appears to be continuing after the early 2014 run-up.The low readings in the monthly average over the past few weeks might suggest the labor market is starting to recover a bit after a year end spin caused in part by harsh winter weather.