Source: Reuters
“The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, but that likely does not signal a material shift in labor market conditions. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 242,000 for the week ended February 22, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 221,000 claims for the latest week. Seasonal adjustment factors, the model that the government uses to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data, tend to bias the claims data higher around this time of the year.” (02/27/25)