The 4-week moving average is down to 208,500
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate is 0.9 %
The number of new unemployment benefit claims filed in the United States increased last week to 202,000, indicating a tight job market after the Omicron variant interrupted corporate operations.
On Thursday, the Labor Department reported a substantial increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 187,000 to 188,000.
However, economists polled by Bloomberg expected the claims to fall to 196,000.
As job postings have ceased expanding and salary growth has slowed, some economists believe that demand for employees has leveled off, albeit, at a high level, WSJ stated.
The increase in applications is most likely a one-time blip following reductions as the job market rebounds from the omicron variation.
The 4-week moving average was 208,500, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised by 250 from 211,750 to 212,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 0.9 percent for the week ending March 19, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate
Meanwhile, Private payrolls increased by 455,000 jobs in March, according to the ADP National Employment Report data on Wednesday. About 80% of the private jobs created last month were from medium-sized and large companies.