U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up To 223,000

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept slightly higher in the week ended March 15th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 223,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 221,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 224,000 from the 220,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged up to 227,000, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 226,250.

"Extremely high levels of policy uncertainty don't seem to be putting a dent in the labor market," said Nationwide Financial Markets Economist Oren Klachkin.

"DOGE-driven staff reductions are buoying claims for federal workers, though a second consecutive w/w decline suggests perhaps we should be more optimistic than recent headlines suggest," he added. "We expect labor market trends to convey gradually cooling conditions over the rest of the year."

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 33,000 to 1.892 million in the week ended March 8th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,875,750, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,869,500.