US jobless claims steady through early August

Initial jobless claims rose 5k, to 274k, in the week ending August 8, a touch above our (270k) and consensus expectations (270k) for an unchanged reading. Despite the increase in claims for the latest week, the four-week average fell to 266k (previous: 268k). Non-seasonally adjusted claims were down 11% y/y for the week, and no special factors were reported by the Labor Department in this morning's report. Continuing claims for the week ending August 1 rose to 2.273mn from an upwardly revised prior-week reading of 2.258mn (initial: 2.255mn).

The uptick in continuing claims reverses last week's decline and bears watching, as the series is one of the best indicators of overall payroll growth. That said, the four-week trend of 2.254mn (previous: 2.240mn) remains low from a historical perspective.

"The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.7% in the latest week. Taken together, the details of this morning's report support our view that labor markets conditions have recovered to their two-decade average", says Barclays.