Weekly Unemployment Claims (every Thursday)
Last week’s unemployment numbers were posted early this morning, revealing 212,000 new claims for jobless benefits were made. This was an increase from the previous week’s revised 208,000 initial filings, but fell short of the 215,000 that was expected. Rising claims are a sign the employment sector weakened during the week. Therefore, the increase from the previous week is technically favorable news for rates even though the number a little smaller than expected.