Initial applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose last week but remained relatively subdued.
New claims rose by 11,000 to 219,000 in the week ended Feb. 1. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 213,000 applications.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.89 million in the week ended Jan. 25, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.
The level of initial claims has remained broadly in line with pre-Covid levels, and private employment data from ADP Research showed a healthy pace of hiring in January. That's consistent with a labor market that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last week described as "fairly stable." The four-week moving average of new applications, a metric that helps smooth out fluctuations, rose to 216,750, just shy of a month. Before adjusting for seasonal factors, initial claims also rose, led by California and New York. (Newsmaker23)
Source: Bloomberg
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