Unemployment claims in the U.S. jumped from 320,000 to 360,000 last week, the highest in the last six weeks.
The Labor Department said Thursday that its weekly jobless claims have risen from 320,000 to 360,000 last week. Market experts were expecting an increase but predicted it to be a modest 330,000. However, they were surprised to see a 40,000 increase, which is the highest one-week jump since November when claims rose by 88,000 after Super storm Sandy hit the country.
According to economists, 350,000 and below claims indicate that the nation is experiencing moderate job growth but anything above that could have serious consequences.
Jobless claims have been decreasing over the weeks since March. In the month of March, there was an increase in claims. Analysts reason that it could have been because of the Easter holidays, going back to school and other seasonal adjustments.
"Claims do not provide the best read on overall conditions since they only capture the pace of firing and not what is happening to hiring," said senior economist, Julia Coronado at BNP Paribas. "Job creation would have to take place at a much faster pace to pull the nation's 7.5% unemployment rate down to pre-recession levels of below 6%, but companies are unwilling to pad their payrolls until they're convinced that demand is ready to climb to a higher long-term plateau. So far this year there's little evidence that's about to happen."
The rise in the unemployment claims in the U.S. rose rapidly from January through March, more than what was recorded in the last two years.
