The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 368,000 for the week ending January 26th, according to just released survey data from the Department of Labour.

That constitutes an increase of 38,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 330,000.

The consensus estimate had been for a much smaller increment, to 335,000.

The 4-week moving average was 352,000, an increase of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 351,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% for the week ending January 19th, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 19th was 3,197,000, an increase of 22,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,175,000.

Despite all of the above, this is what economists at Barclays Research had to say: "Given the volatile seasonal patterns seen during the beginning of the year, we suggest smoothing through the volatility and focusing on the four-week moving average, which was unchanged at 352,000. This is a solid improvement from the 377,000 average seen during the same time period last year."

AB

Related share prices