Jobless Claims in U.S. Rise to Highest Level in Nine Months
Bloomberg - Mar 05, 2015
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in more than nine months, a sign harsh winter weather may be stalling the job market’s progress.
Jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 320,000 in the week ended Feb. 28, the most since May, from 313,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected claims of 295,000.
Snowfall in parts of the country may have caused some workers to have been temporarily dismissed, leading to the increase in filings. A report tomorrow may show employers added 235,000 workers in February, while the unemployment rate is expected to drop to 5.6 percent, matching a more than six-year low.
“It’s really the weather, I wouldn’t go crazy about it,†said Brian Jones, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, who forecast 325,000 claims. “There were some storms in the second half of February that hit a variety of areas in the United States, and if people can’t work, they file. Anybody who’s involved in doing anything outdoors and they’re unable to work, they’re going to file paperwork.â€
Stock-index futures trimmed earlier gains after the report. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index maturing this month rose 0.2 percent to 2,100.8 at 9:09 a.m. in New York.