US Jobless Claims Rise More

The United States — United States Department of Labor released reports indicating that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to 211,000 in the week ended May 9th, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week. This was higher than economists' expectations of 205,000. For the week ended May 2nd, initial jobless claims rose to 200,000, an increase of 10,000. The less volatile four-week moving average for initial claims also increased to 203,750. Continuing claims rose by 24,000 to 1.782 million in the week ended May 2nd. Additionally, the United States non-farm payroll employment increased by 115,000 jobs in April, exceeding expectations, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent. Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics noted that these figures are largely consistent with a stable-to-improving job market, suggesting the United States — Federal Reserve should feel comfortable leaving policy on hold.