A man walks past a We Rent sign in front of a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, on June 3, 2022.
Olivier Doulieri AFP | Getty Images
Initial unemployment claims jumped to their highest level since mid-January last week, despite signs of an otherwise strong employment picture, the labor ministry said on Thursday.
The number of documents submitted for the first time in the week ending June 4 totaled 229,000, an increase of 27,000 from the revised level in the previous period and well ahead of Dow Jones’ estimate of 210,000. The period covered includes Remembrance Day; seasonal adjustments would usually lead to more.
The last time the initial demands were so high was on January 15.
However, the ongoing claims, which run one week after the headline, remained unchanged at just over 1.3 million, below FactSet’s estimate of 1.35 million.
The four-week moving average for continuing claims, which explains the volatility in numbers, fell slightly to 1.32 million, the lowest level since January 10, 1970.
The increase in claims comes less than a week after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that non-agricultural wages rose 390,000 in May, significantly better than expected.
Companies continue to hire, despite growing fears that the US economy may face a shallow recession as inflation and global supply chains remain congested.
The Federal Reserve is in the early stages of a cycle of raising interest rates aimed at reducing inflation, reaching around 40-year highs. Fed officials hope to slow the labor market without causing a 3.6% rise in unemployment, which is close to its lowest level since 1969.
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