WASHINGTON: The number of US workers filing new applications for jobless insurance unexpectedly rose last week, but a jump to a record high in a gauge of economic prospects eased concerns about the recovery.
The Labor Department said on Thursday initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 482,000 last week as a backlog of applications from the holidays were processed. It was the third straight week that claims rose. Analysts had expected new claims to slip to 440,000.
Separately, a gauge of the economy’s prospects rose for the ninth straight month to a record high in December, a private research group said, indicating the recovery was set to pick up. “It looks like the recovery momentum is still very much in place and it suggests that we should have good growth going through the first half of the year,” said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at Ridgeworth Investments in Richmond, Virginia.
The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 1.1 percent to an all-time high of 106.4 last month. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the indicator rising by only 0.7 percent.
In another report, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index slipped in January to 15.2 from 22.5 in December, which was a 4-1/2-year high.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a January reading of 18.0.
US stock indexes fell sharply as shares of major banks and those of natural resource companies sold off, while Treasury debt prices were little changed on the economic reports.
The weekly claims data covers the survey week for the Labor Department’s January payrolls report, scheduled for release Feb. 5. Analysts said the backlog suggested a slowdown in the labor market improvement.
The four-week moving average of new claims rose 7,000 to 448,250 last week, snapping a 19-week declining trend. The four-week moving average is viewed as a better measure of underlying trends as it levels out week-to-week volatility.