U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 1k in the March 14th week to 291k. Continuing claims fell to 2.42 mln in the March 7th week from 2.43 mln.
US initial jobless claims remained slightly below 300,000 last week, confirming that the earlier spike in February was probably weather-related.
On a 4-week average basis, initial claims inched up, but still sit at a healthy 304.8k, or just slightly higher than the cycle lows set in the fall.
Capital Economics notes sa follows ...
- As things stand, we would anticipate another sizeable gain in payroll employment in March
- Despite the weakness of current inflation, we expect the Fed to begin raising interest rates in June.
