WASHINGTON, May 9 -
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 215,000 claims in the latest week. Claims broke above the 194,000-225,000 range, which had prevailed since the start of the year. Unadjusted claims shot up 19,690 to 209,324 last week, with filings in New York surging by 10,248. Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Economist Ian Shepherdson speculated that the jump could reflect "Citigroup employees laid off in January but paid through April making their first claims."
Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices were mixed.The labor market is steadily rebalancing in the wake of 525 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the U.S. central bank since March 2022 to dampen demand in the overall economy.