US jobless claims stay low in August survey week

Initial jobless claims fell 6k to 271k in the week ending August 22, in line with forecast (270k) and consensus expectations (274k). Prior-week initial claims were unrevised at 277k and the Labor Department reported no special factors in this morning's report. The four-week moving average of initial claims was little changed at 273k (previous: 272k).

Continuing claims for the week ending August 15, the survey week for the August employment report, rose to 2.269mn from an upwardly revised prior week reading of 2.256mn (initial: 2.254mn). The four-week moving average of continuing claims was steady at 2.265mn (previous: 2.266mn) and the insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.7%. The monthly comparison of survey-week jobless claims in this morning's data shows an uptick in initial claims (277k, July: 255k) and nearly unchanged continuing claims (2.269mn, July: 2.270) from July to August.

"As we previously wrote in Jobless claims plummeting, job growth steady, however, the July survey-week print for initial claims was anomalously low and likely a result of usually short seasonal shutdowns at auto manufacturing plants. We view the steady trend in continuing unemployment claims and historically low level of overall jobless claims as indicative of solid labor market separations through mid-August", says Barclays.