Jobless claims hit highest level since August

Weekly jobless claims rose more than expected last week in the latest sign of a cooling labor market.

New data from the Department of Labor showed 243,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending July 13, up from 222,000 the week prior and above the 229,000 economists had expected. This tied with a weekly jobless claims reading from June for the highest level of weekly filings since August 2023.

Meanwhile, the number of continuing applications for unemployment benefits hit its highest level since November 2021, with nearly 1.87 million claims filed in the week ending July 6, up from 1.85 the week prior.

Jefferies US economist Thomas Simons reasoned that part of the uptick in weekly claims could’ve been caused by Hurricane Beryl displacing workers. Still, Simons noted that the trend in recent weeks for jobless claims has reflected more cracks emerging in the labor market.

 

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