U.S. initial unemployment insurance claims bounced 46,000 to a higher-than-expected 388,000 in the week ending October 13. This more than retraced the 27,000-unit jump to an upwardly revised 342,000 level reported for the previous week. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor noted that state-level administrative issues have distorted the data in recent weeks, affecting the seasonally-adjustment process for the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Even with the weekly jump, though, the four-week moving average of initial claims (which better controls for weekly volatility) rose only modestly, increasing to 365,500 from 364,750 the previous week. Continuing claims dropped 29,000 to 3,252,000 in the week ending October 6.
Despite the larger-than-expected rebound in initial claims in the latest week, which also happens to coincide with the October payroll employment survey week, the four-week moving of average of claims held below the 378,500 level recorded in the September survey week and was only slightly higher than the 364,500-unit level that prevailed in the August survey week. The level of claims is consistent with continued gains in payroll employment in October and, in isolation, the data suggest that job growth could see a slight acceleration from September’s modest 114,000 increase.
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