U.S. Jobless Claims Rose 11,000 Last Week; At Highest Level Since June, But Near Eight-Year Lows
WASHINGTON--The number of new applications for jobless benefits rose last week to the highest level since June, but stayed near prerecession lows.</br></br>Initial claims for unemployment benefits increased by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000 in the week ended Sept. 6, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims for the previous week were revised higher to 304,000.</br></br>Last week's claims level was well above the 300,000 forecast by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, though it was possibly distorted by the Labor Day holiday. A Labor Department analyst noted that claims, a proxy for layoffs, tend to be especially volatile around holidays.</br></br>The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, was up 750 to 304,000. It has been trending higher since hitting a 2014 low of 293,750 in early August. But that is still well below the average for the first half of the year and remains at levels last consistently seen before the recession.</br></br>"The claims data show clear improvement in labor-market conditions over the past few months, but some modest deterioration over the most recent few weeks," said J.P. Morgan Chase economist Daniel Silver.