U.S. Jobless Claims Rise for Third Straight Week

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Jobless Claims Rise for Third Straight Week

Claims for new unemployment benefits remain below 300,000 for longest streak since 1973

By Eric Morath
[e-mail]
@EricMorath

March 31, 2016 8:33 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—The number of U.S. workers who applied for new unemployment benefits rose last week, but remains at a historically low level consistent with an improving labor market.

Initial claims for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S. economy, increased by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 276,000 in the week ended March 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. The number of claims have increased for three straight weeks to the highest level since the week ended Jan. 30. Still, it was the 56th consecutive week that initial jobless claims remained below 300,000, extending the longest streak below that threshold since 1973.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 265,000 new claims last week. ... Claims for the prior week were unrevised at 265,000. ... Data on jobless claims often are volatile from week to week. The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility in the claims data, rose by 3,500 last week to 263,250. Despite the increase, the level remains near a four-decade low.

A low level of layoffs typically coincides with solid hiring. Economists project that U.S. employers added 213,000 workers in March, a slight slowdown from February, but still a healthy pace of growth. They expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 4.9% when the Labor Department releases the March jobs report on Friday.

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-jobless-claims-rise-for-third-straight-week-1459427634

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I don't usually put this in LBN, but the article opines on what to expect tomorrow:

Economists project that U.S. employers added 213,000 workers in March, a slight slowdown from February, but still a healthy pace of growth. They expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 4.9% when the Labor Department releases the March jobs report on Friday.

MarketWatch's estimate is for an addition of 205,000 203,000 workers and a UR of 4.9%. Yesterday, ADP^® reported an addition of 200,000 workers, slightly below the estimate of 205,000 MarketWatch had for them.