2023.03.2313:36:00UTC+00U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Slightly Lower

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a slight decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 18th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 191,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 192,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 201,000.

"Initial jobless claims have been below 200k for nine of the last 10 weeks, a level consistent with an imbalance between the supply and demand for workers," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, "A tight labor market will lead to further rate hikes from the Fed, although the FOMC will proceed more cautiously given the recent stress in the banking system and its uncertain impact on the economy."

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 196,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 196,500.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 14,000 to 1.694 million in the week ended March 11th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also crept up to 1,684,000, an increase of 8,500 from the previous week's revised average of 1,675,500.