U.S. Jobless Claims, Inventories Rise
The number of American workers filing for first-time jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week while inventories at U.S. wholesalers grew in January, government reports showed Thursday.
First-time jobless claims rose 17,000 to 327,000 last week from 310,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said. Claims hit their highest level in two months and came in above Wall Street economists’ forecasts for an unchanged reading of 310,000.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department said inventories at U.S. wholesalers rose a larger-than-expected 1.1% in January, led by gains in automobiles and parts and other durable goods, while sales slowed from December’s pace.
Wall Street economists had expected wholesale inventories to rise 0.6% in January. December’s inventory gain was essentially unchanged from the 0.4% increase initially reported.
Inventories of durable goods -- big-ticket items meant to last three years or more -- rose 1.3% in January. Stockpiles of autos and auto parts climbed 2.2% after falling 1.2% in December.
The Commerce Department report showed that sales at wholesalers rose 0.5%, slower than the revised 1.1% jump in December.
The stocks-to-sales ratio, a measure of how long it would take to deplete stocks at the current sales pace, rose to 1.15 months in January from 1.14 months in December.
Most economists brushed off the rise in jobless claims, saying it did not change an overall favorable trend for the labor market.
“We were due for a jump,” said Kurt Karl, chief economist at Swiss Re in New York. “I don’t think it’s a major concern. It’s still very, very low.”
Since mid-January, jobless claims have remained well below the 350,000 watermark economists regard as dividing an improving labor market from a deteriorating one.
The closely watched four-week moving average -- seen by economists as a truer reflection of the labor market than the more volatile weekly figure -- rose for the first time in five weeks, to 312,500 from 306,750 the previous week.
