Initial jobless claims rise more than expected

Unemployment line

(REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton) Initial jobless claims rose more than expected last week, to 320,000 from 313,000 the prior week.

Expectations were for initial claims to total 295,000, down from last week's 313,000, which was higher than expected.

The four week moving average of claims rose 10,250 from the previous week to 304,750.

Following the report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro said, "In one line: Another weather hit, probably."

Shepherdson added, "Last week was much colder than usual, with more than twice the snowfall of the previous week, which was the payroll survey
week. This week too has seen significant snow in the eastern half of the country, so claims likely won't revert to trend, which is about 290K, for another couple of weeks."

This is the last piece of labor market data before Friday's big jobs report.

More to come ...

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