US Initial Jobless Claims increased more than expected

In the week ending January 27, the number of US citizens applying for unemployment insurance benefits surged by 224,000, as reported by the US Department of Labor (DoL) on Thursday. Once again, these figures surpassed market estimates, following a 215,000 increase in the preceding week.

Further insights from the publication indicate that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate reached 1.3%, while the 4-week moving average showed a decrease of 5,250 to 207,750 compared to the revised average of the previous week.

Moreover, Continuing Claims experienced a notable uptick, rising by 70,000 to 1,889,800 in the week ending January 20. These statistics provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of unemployment insurance benefits and underscore the ongoing challenges in the labor market.