Initial Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected, Indicating Slowdown In Labor Market Conditions

Initial jobless claims rose more than expected last week, indicating a slight cooling in labor market conditions compared to the previous week, when unemployment benefits came in lower than anticipated.

Weekly Unemployment Benefits Report: Key Highlights

• Initial jobless claims totaled 232,000 for the week ending Aug. 17, up from an upwardly revised 228,000 in the previous week and missing the expected 230,000.
• The four-week moving average of weekly jobless claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, marginally eased by 500 claims from last week to 236,000.
• Continuing claims inched up from a downwardly revised 1.859 million to 1.863 million, yet falling short of the forecasted increase to 1.870 million.
• The highest number of claims for the week was filed in Florida, with an increase of 1,987, followed by California with 1,355 new claims. Conversely, the most significant decreases were observed in Michigan (-2,783), Texas (-2,077), and Georgia (-1,181).

Market Reactions

The U.S. dollar slightly pared its session gains following the release of the weekly unemployment insurance report, but it remained up by 0.2% as of 08:40 a.m. in New York. On Wednesday, the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP closed its fourth consecutive session in the red.

Markets are currently pricing in a 72% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut in September.

In Thursday’s premarket trading, futures on major U.S. indices edged higher, with tech stocks leading the way. Nasdaq 100 futures were up by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed 0.3% higher, remaining within a percentage point of its record highs reached in July.

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