Weekly jobless claims south of the border were worse than expected last week amid a plodding climb for the U.S. labour market from the damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures released by the Labor Department on Thursday reported 884,000 first-time filings for unemployment insurance, compared with 850,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total was unchanged from the previous week.
Continuing claims from those filing for at least two weeks rose from the previous week, hitting nearly 13.4 million, an increase of 93,000 from last week’s report and an indicator that the strong jobs improvement through the summer may be tailing off entering the fall.
The four-week moving average for claims through the week of Sept. 5, a number which helps smooth out volatility in weekly numbers, declined 21,750 to 970,750. The moving average for continuing claims fell 523,750 to 13.982 million.
