US Initial Jobless Claims Jump To 4-Month-Highs

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time jumped to 229k last week (more than the 220k expected) and the highest in four months…

Source: Bloomberg

Pennsylvania, California, and Minnesota are the states seeing the largest rise in claims last week…

Continuing jobless claims also rose last week to 1.795mm Americans – highest in two months, but still relatively low in the context of the last two years…

Source: Bloomberg

The bottom line is that while initial jobless claims are rising, they remain low by historical standards and continue to run below year-ago levels.

Taken together with the May payrolls report, the data suggest that labor-market momentum remains firm.