US Initial Jobless Claims at 207,000 'Below Expectations'

Continuing Claims Also Fall Short of Expectations at 1.858 Million

Last week, the number of new unemployment benefit claims in the United States fell short of market expectations.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor on the 30th (local time), the number of new unemployment benefit claims for the week of January 19-25 was recorded at 207,000, down 16,000 from the revised figure of 223,000 the previous week. This was also 17,000 fewer than the expert forecast of 224,000.

The number of continuing unemployment benefit claims, which counts those claiming benefits for at least two weeks, was 1,858,000 for the week of January 12-18. This was 42,000 fewer than the revised figure of 1.9 million the previous week and 32,000 less than the market expectation of 1.89 million.

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) is monitoring the labor market and inflation situation after temporarily pausing its monetary easing cycle the day before. At the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) regular meeting the previous day, the Fed held the benchmark interest rate steady at 4.25-4.5% and stated in its policy decision that the labor market "remains solid." In December last year, the Fed had described the labor market as having "generally eased" since early this year, but this wording was revised this time.