The number of Americans submitting new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week even as the labor market recorded a recovery driven by brisk economic activity and increased vaccinations.
Preliminary claims for unemployment benefits were 419,000 for the week ending July 17, according to a report released by the Department of Labor on Thursday.
This reading is up from the previous week which recorded a total claims of only 368,000 after being revised and last week’s reading was also far off from the survey of investors which targeted a total of claims of only 350,000.
This increase in unemployment claims is a surprise as past data shows there has been a significant increase in employment. A year ago, the country recorded nearly 1.5 million new claims a week following the closure of economic sectors.
However, with the increase in more widespread vaccinations and the sharp decline in cases of Covid-19 infection has led to an increase in employment.
The number of claims issued is the highest weekly number since May 15 despite expectations that the labor market is growing and companies are showing a more aggressive attitude to add jobs.
On the other hand, the level of claims continued to decline to 3.24 million, down 126,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The US dollar was still trading lower down 0.06% to 92,698. As for the futures stock market, it is moving horizontally.
