United States Initial Jobless Claims

Initial jobless claims in the US surged by 27,000 from the previous week to 263,000 on the first week of September, the most since October 2021, and well above the market consensus of 235,000. The result aligned with a series of pessimistic labor market surveys released since the start of the month to consolidate the evidence of a deteriorating labor backdrop in the US. The four-week moving average, which eliminates week-to-week volatility, jumped by 9,750 to 240,500, the highest since June, to mark the sharpest one-week increase since December of 2020. Among different states, initial claims in Texas rose by 15,304 before seasonal adjustments. In the meantime, outstanding unemployment claims held at 1,932,000 in the last week of August, below expectations of 1,950,000 but remaining above averages since 2021.