US jobless claims shoot past expectations

(Sharecast News) - Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 1 February, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims rose by 11,000 to 219,000, above market expectations for a smaller increase to 213,000, while continuing claims rose by 26,000 to 1.88m, also coming in ahead of expectations of 1.87m,

The four-week-moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,000 to 216,750 on the back of sharp increases in New York and California.

The Labor Department also said the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending 25 January, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.









Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com