U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Down To 228,000

With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday unexpectedly showing a slight decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 26th.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 228,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 232,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 235,000 from the 230,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 237,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week’s revised average of 237,250.

The report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 28,000 to 1.725 million in the week ended August 19th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,704,250, an increase of 8,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,696,000.

“While signs of looser labor markets are emerging, the jobless claims data are a reminder that the cooling in labor market conditions is being accompanied by very few layoffs,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, “We expect some increase in layoffs later in the year as the economy slows but job losses will be relatively modest compared to prior recessions.”

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

Economists expect employment to increase by 170,000 jobs in August after climbing by 187,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.5 percent.

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