The Epoch Times
New weekly filings for unemployment insurance—a proxy for layoffs—have reversed three consecutive weeks of declines and notched higher than analysts predicted, although jobless claims are still generally running at near pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that the labor market recovery remains intact.
First-time filings for unemployment insurance rose by 23,000 to 248,000 for the week ending on Feb. 12, the Labor Department said in a report (pdf). The prior week’s level was revised up by 3,000 to 225,000.
“The higher-than-expected number defied expectations for improvement,” Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Even so, one would not construct a new trend out of one week’s movement, particularly given the generally low level of new claims overall and with unemployment at 4 percent.”
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