Weekly initial US jobless claims dip unexpectedly

(Sharecast News) - Unemployment claims in the U.S. being filed for the first time dipped unexpectedly during the preceding week. According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of initial unemployment claims slipped by 1,000 over the week ending on 9 March to reach 209,000.

Economists had anticipated a rise to 218,000.

The four-week moving average on the other hand, which aims to smooth out the variations in the data from one week to the next, declined by 500 to 208,000.

Secondary claims, which are those not being filed for the first time and referencing the week that ended on 2 March, were up by 17,000 to 1.811m.

Notably, the estimate of secondary claims for the week that ended on 24 February was revised down by a large 112,000.

As well, the latest weekly figures incorporated the latest annual revision to the seasonal adjustment factors for weekly unemployment claims.

-- More to follow --