WASHINGTON: New applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell more than expected last week, but the labor market appears to be cooling, with the number of Americans on unemployment rolls surging to more than a 1-1/2-year high at the end of 2019.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 9,500 to 224,000 last week. "The continuing claims data also may exhibit some volatility around the holiday season, but the trend in the data appears to have weakened over the past month or so," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.Labor market strength is helping to keep the economy on a moderate growth pace despite a deepening downturn in manufacturing. The White House's 18-month trade war with China has sapped business confidence and undercut capital expenditure.
The unemployment rate is forecast to be unchanged near a 50-year low of 3.5per cent. The Federal Reserve last month signaled interest rates could remain unchanged at least through this year. The Fed lowered borrowing costs three times in 2019.
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