Economists speculate that severance packages were delaying
the filing of unemployment benefits claims while the abundance
of job openings made it easier for laid off workers to find new
jobs. They also believed that seasonal factors, the model the
government uses to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the
data, were keeping claims lower.
"We do, however, expect the reported level of claims to be
revised up when the annual seasonal factor revisions are
published this spring," said Lou Crandall, chief economist at
Wrightson ICAP.
The claims report also showed the number of people receiving
benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring,
increased 38,000 to 1.688 million during the week ending Jan.
28.
Lower layoffs have been a major contributor to strong job
gains. The government reported last Friday that nonfarm payrolls
surged by 517,000 jobs in January, the most in six months, after
rising 260,000 in December. The unemployment rate fell to more
than a 53-1/2 year low of 3.4% from 3.5% in December.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the
U.S. central bank's fight to tame inflation could last "quite a
bit of time," in a nod to January's blowout job gains. Since
March, the Fed has hiked its policy rate by 450 basis points
from near zero to a 4.50%-to-4.75% range.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The number of Americans
filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased more than
expected last week, but remained at levels consistent with a
tight labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 13,000
to a seasonally adjusted 196,000 for the week ended Feb. 4, the
Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters
had forecast 190,000 claims for the latest week.
Claims have remained low despite high-profile layoffs in the
technology industry as well as the interest rate-sensitive
finance and housing sectors. There is anecdotal evidence that
companies are generally reluctant to lay off workers after
experiencing difficulties recruiting during the pandemic.
Workers remain scarce in some industries. There were 1.9 job
openings for every unemployed person in December, government
data showed last week. According to an Institute for Supply
Management survey last Friday, some services businesses in
January reported they were "unable to hire qualified labor,"
saying that "supply is thin."
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