Umemployment claims in the U.S. rose again last week to a two-month high, reported the Labor Department Thursday. But initial claims are still at low levels, suggesting a continuing low rate of layoffs in the economy.
Initial jobless claims in the period running from Aug. 23 to Aug. 29 rose by 12,000 to 282,000, which is the highest level since the end of June.
This number goes beyond the median forecast of 275,000 new applications predicted in a Bloomberg survey. According to a Labor Department spokesman, this increase may be attributed to the start of a new school year, which differs from state to state, and can introduce a period of volatility in the data since such events are difficult to adjust.
Despite the increase, however, the number has continued to stay below the 300,000 mark for six months now, the longest streak since 2000, which is an indication that U.S. employers are confident in their outlook for domestic sales even with the global market indicating signs of stress, according to Newsmax.
"It does suggest that the labor market is pretty tight and that there aren't a lot of people leaving their jobs involuntarily," said David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio, before the report. "We're already pretty close to historical lows, so it'll be hard for it to go down further."
The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, was 275,500, compared to 303,250 a year ago, according to Yahoo News.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits fell by 9,000 to 2.26 million in the week ending Aug. 22. This figure is reported with a two-week lag and reflects the number of people already receiving unemployment checks.
