U.S. initial jobless claims jump to 6-week high, pace of lay-offs remains low

The United States initial jobless claims surged to a six-week high during the period ended Oct 9-Oct 15, while the pace of lay-offs in the world’s biggest economy remained exceedingly low.

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 13,000 to 260,000 in the period ended Oct. 15, data released by the Labor Department showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 250,000. Continuing claims also rose, though the four-week average was the lowest since 2000.

Further, the number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose by 7,000 to 2.06 million in the week ended Oct. 8. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 1.5 percent. These data are reported with a one-week lag.

Moreover, the four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, increased to 251,750 from 249,500 in the prior week. Hurricane Mathew that struck South Carolina on Oct 8 also caused enormous losses to businesses, although temporarily and during the week of the survey of the jobless claims.

"Employers find it so hard to replace staff that they need to hold onto existing employees," said Ian Shepherdson, Chief Economist, Pantheon Macroeconomics.