US Initial Jobless Claims Signal a Struggling Labor Market

Initial Jobless Claims measures the number of individuals filing for jobless benefits for the first time during the past week. A lower-than-expected reading is essentially better for the US job market, as more people remain in the workforce. Theoretically, less people applying for initial unemployment benefits, the better it is for the US economy. When emerging unemployment is low and less than expected, it indicates a relatively healthy economy, or in this case, a recovering economy. In its weekly report, the

said in the week ending April 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 380,000 worse than the estimate of 355,000, which was an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 367,000. The 4-week moving average was 368,500, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 364,250. The previous week's figure was revised up to 367,000 from 357,000. Continuing Jobless Claims measures the number of unemployed individuals who continue to be eligible for unemployment benefits. In its weekly report, the

said advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 31 was 3,251,000 better than the estimate of 3,335,000, which was a decrease of 98,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,349,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,334,250, a decrease of 35,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,370,000. The previous week's figure was revised up to 3,349,000 from 3,338,000. US equity futures saw an initial move lower after the 8:30 a.m. ET release. Currently, Dow Jones Industrial Index Futures are trading about 120 points higher in pre-market trading.