Americans filing continued unemployment claims rose to their highest level in five months, while initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since June, according to the Labor Department on Sept, 1.
Continuing claims, which run a week behind jobless claims data, rose to 1.44 million on Aug. 20, up 26,000 from the previous week, to levels not seen since April.
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time fell, from 237,000 to 232,000, for the week ended Aug. 27.
This was below the Dow Jones estimate of 245,000 and the lowest number of jobless claims since June 25.
“Initial jobless claims edged lower in the last week while continuing claims rose slightly. No signs of a major shift in labor market despite growing layoff announcements,” wrote Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab Corp. in a tweet….