US New Unemployment Claims Decrease After 2 Weeks... Manufacturing Sector Expansion Slows Down

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Weekly new unemployment claims in the United States decreased for the first time in two weeks but still remained above 800,000. The manufacturing sector continued its recovery, but the expansion pace slowed down.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on the 1st (local time) that new unemployment insurance claims for the week of September 20-26 totaled 837,000. This marks a decline for the first time in two weeks. The previous week's new claims were 873,000. This figure was also lower than the Dow Jones consensus market estimate of 850,000.

The number of continuing unemployment claims, those claiming benefits for more than two weeks, was 11.77 million, down by 980,000 from the previous week.

CNBC reported that although the unemployment trend remains at a high level, the continuing claims were viewed positively.

There is also analysis suggesting that the improvement in unemployment figures may be due to delays in processing unemployment claims. The Department of Labor explained that California did not process unemployment claims for two weeks to prevent fraudulent claims, which may have distorted the statistics.

Other economic indicators released that day also showed a slowdown in the recovery trend.

The ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which reflects the U.S. manufacturing sector, was 55.4, below the expected 56.3. Compared to 56 in the previous month, the data indicates that the expansion continues but at a somewhat slower pace. A PMI above 50 indicates expansion, while below 50 indicates contraction.

On the same day, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that consumer spending in August increased by 1.0%. This was better than the expert consensus estimate of a 0.8% increase but showed a slowdown compared to the 1.5% increase in the previous month.