U.S. Jobless Claims Rise Much More Than Expected To Two-Month High

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by much more than expected in the week ended April 26th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 241,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level of 223,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 224,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 243,000 in the week ended February 22nd.

"The jump in claims is less worrisome than it might be otherwise since the increase was narrowly based, with New York accounting for most of the rise in claims, which is likely a function of school spring holidays," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

The report also said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 226,000, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 220,500.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also increased by 83,000 to 1.916 million in the week ended April 19th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims climbed to 1,867,750, an increase of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,862,000.

"Continued claims are more volatile week to week, but remain elevated, signaling that workers who lose their job are facing challenges in finding new employment," said Vanden Houten.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report for April.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 130,000 jobs in April after surging by 228,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.2 percent.