The numbers: Initial jobless benefit claims stayed in ultra-low territory in the latest week with the 4-week moving average of claims falling to lowest level since February.
In the week ended Sept. 9, claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to 220,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. This is also near February lows.
Non-seasonally adjusted claims dropped 16,854 to 174,499. That’s the lowest since last October.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had estimated new claims would rise 4,000 to 220,000.
Last week claims rose a revised 12,000 to 217,000. That compared with the initial estimate of a decrease of 13,000 to 216,000.
The four-week moving average of claims fell 5,000 to 224,500 in the latest week. This is the lowest level since late February.
Key details: The number of people already collecting jobless benefits in the week ended Sept. 2 rose by 4,000 to 1.69 million.
Big picture: There are some signs that the pace of hiring is softening, but there are very few workers being laid off. Federal Reserve officials want to see some softening in the economy and the labor market in order to get inflation under control.
What are they saying? “Layoffs remains low and, for now, there is no sign that businesses are shedding workers in large numbers in response to restrictive monetary policy that is aimed at weakening demand and economic activity,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
Market reaction: Stocks
DJIA
SPX
were set to open slightly higher on Thursday. The 10-year Treasury note yield
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
rose to 4.28%.
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