US weekly jobless claims, continuing claims at eight-month low
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to an eight-month low last week, but a rebound is likely as a partial strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union forces automobile manufacturers to temporarily lay off workers because of shortages of some materials.
The report from the Labor Department on Thursday offered an upbeat assessment of the jobs market, with the number of people on unemployment rolls also falling during the first week of September to the lowest level since January. Though demand for labor is slowing, overall labor market conditions have remained tight despite higher interest rates.
«The U.S. labor market continues to outperform expectations,» said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 201,000 for the week ended Sept. 16, the lowest level since January, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 claims for the latest week.
Claims are in the lower end of their 194,000-265,000 range for this year. Unadjusted claims rose only 67 to 175,661 last week. There were notable declines in claims in Indiana and California, which mostly offset sizeable increases in South Carolina, New York and Georgia.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but stiffened its hawkish stance, with a further rate increase projected by the end of the year and monetary policy to be kept significantly tighter through 2024 than previously expected.
Since March 2022, the U.S. central bank has raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points to the current 5.25%-5.50% range.
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