Unemployment Filings Rise at Lower-Than-Expected Rate
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Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits rose less than estimated and remained around historically low levels, offering the latest signs that the labor market is holding up.
Jobless claims climbed by 2,000 to 208,000 in the week ended Sept. 14, according to Labor Department figures released Sept. 19 that matched the lowest estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure for initial claims, slipped to a seven-week low.
The report signals that any weakness in manufacturing amid the trade war with China isn’t leaking into the jobs market yet as employers continue hiring and retaining workers.
A separate gauge from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed Sept. 19 that manufacturing in the region continued to expand at a moderate pace in September. The bank’s gauge of factory employment expanded at a faster pace, with nearly 25% indicating they were adding to their workforce.
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Fed officials Sept. 18 continued to characterize employment as “strong” with “solid” payroll gains even as they made a second straight interest rate cut to protect against weakness abroad and trade uncertainty.
