Jobless claims have biggest jump in five weeks

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - First-time claims for state unemployment benefits had their biggest jump in five weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The number of initial claims in the week ending August 20 rose 15,000 to 444,000. It’s the highest level since the week ended August 9. The rise surprised analysts. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to fall to 420,000. Claims in the previous week were revised to a decrease of 6,000 to 429,000 compared with the initial estimate of a fall of 10,000 to 425,000. The four-week average of initial claims fell 3,250 to 438,000. Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving state jobless benefits held steady rose 6,000 to 3.44 million in the week ending August 23.This is the highest level since November 2003. The four-week moving average of continuing claims rose 33,250 to 3.4 million. This is also the highest level since November […]

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