{"id":286659,"date":"2026-01-16T00:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T00:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/286659\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T00:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T00:24:09","slug":"weekly-us-jobless-claims-fall-unexpectedly-but-labor-market-treading-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/286659\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly US jobless claims fall unexpectedly, but labor market treading water"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Weekly jobless claims drop 9,000 to 198,000<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Continuing claims decrease 19,000 to 1.884 million<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) &#8211; The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, but the drop was likely due to ongoing challenges adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations around this time of the year.<\/p>\n<p>The labor market remains in \u200bwhat economists and policymakers have termed a &#8220;low-hire, low-fire&#8221; state. Economists say President Donald Trump&#8217;s aggressive <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/tariffs\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">trade<\/a> and immigration policies have reduced both demand for and supply of \u200cworkers. Businesses also are unsure of their staffing needs as they invest heavily in artificial intelligence, which is curbing hiring.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/us-weekly-jobless-claims-unexpectedly-fall-amid-seasonal-adjustment-challenges-2026-01-15\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fworld%2Fus%2Fus-weekly-jobless-claims-unexpectedly-fall-amid-seasonal-adjustment-challenges-2026-01-15%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The picture of the labor market from the claims data, as noisy as it has been in recent weeks, is one of at least stable labor market conditions,&#8221; said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.<\/p>\n<p>Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 198,000 for the week ended January 10, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 215,000 claims for the latest week.<\/p>\n<p>Claims are difficult to adjust for \u200cseasonal fluctuations around the year-end holiday season and turn of the year. Unadjusted claims shot up by 31,984 to 330,684 last week. The model the \u200bgovernment uses to iron out seasonal fluctuations from the data had pointed to an increase of 45,652 in applications last week.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There has been an apparent seasonal pattern in seasonally adjusted data where they tend to bottom in January and peak sometime in the summer,&#8221; said Gisela Young, an economist at Citigroup. &#8220;This pattern could repeat in coming weeks, so we would not \u200dexpect initial claims to fall further in coming weeks. Some of this residual seasonality could be corrected when the seasonal factors are updated later in the spring.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Labor market stasis was underscored by the Federal Reserve&#8217;s <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/us-economic-activity-mostly-increased-recent-weeks-fed-survey-shows-2026-01-14\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Beige Book&#8221; report<\/a> on Wednesday, which showed &#8220;employment was mostly unchanged&#8221; in early January. The U.S. central bank said multiple districts &#8220;reported an increase in the usage of temporary workers, with one contact reporting this allows them &#8216;to \u2060stay flexible in uncertain times.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When firms were hiring, it was &#8220;mostly to backfill vacancies rather than create new positions,&#8221; the Fed added.<\/p>\n<p>Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher. The dollar gained \u200dversus a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields were mixed.<\/p>\n<p>A line chart with the title &#8216;US unemployment claims&#8217;DIFFICULT TO FIND A JOBThe government reported last week that <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/us-job-growth-slows-december-unemployment-rate-eases-44-2026-01-09\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">nonfarm payrolls<\/a> increased by 50,000 jobs in December. The economy added 584,000 jobs in 2025, the \u200cfewest in \u200cfive years, averaging about 49,000 positions per month. The unemployment rate fell to 4.4% from 4.5% in November. But long-term unemployment remains prevalent.<\/p>\n<p>The number of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, decreased by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.884 million during the week ended January 3, the claims report showed. The so-called continuing claims also were likely held back by seasonal adjustment issues.<\/p>\n<p>A line chart with the title &#8216;Continued filings for unemployment benefits by federal workers&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Consumers&#8217; perceptions of the labor market have been deteriorating. Recent college graduates and other new job seekers, who are not eligible to collect unemployment checks, have \u2060been left stranded by the lack of hiring.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It \u2060is more difficult to find a \u200bjob now than it was during the first few years of recovery from the (COVID-19) pandemic through the first quarter of 2025,&#8221; said Stuart Hoffman, senior economic advisor at PNC Financial.<\/p>\n<p>Though economists expect the Fed will keep its benchmark overnight interest rate in the <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/fed-expected-cut-rates-may-signal-coming-pause-2025-12-10\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">3.50%-3.75% range<\/a> at its January 27-28 meeting, reductions in borrowing costs are anticipated this year to safeguard the labor market.Data this week showed <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/us-consumer-prices-increase-expected-december-2026-01-13\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">inflation pressures<\/a> were stable in December, \u200dbut consumers faced higher food prices and rents.<\/p>\n<p>Economists expect the government to report next Thursday that the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.2% in November, matching the estimate for October. The PCE inflation data, tracked by the Fed for its 2% inflation target, was delayed by the 43-day federal government shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Fed will keep policy steady until June, when we expect the \u200bfirst of the two rate cuts in our baseline for this year,&#8221; Oxford Economics&#8217; Vanden Houten said. &#8220;With inflation \u200drisks starting to recede, Fed officials are more attuned to conditions in the labor market and have more flexibility to respond to additional labor market weakness with an earlier cut.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Andrea Ricci and Paul Simao<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 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(Reuters)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[82519,79,84370,96005,84149,82559,82782,82530,83130,96004,83404,84146,82531,84147,82779,83115,83116,179,95999,84148,18,45748,19,84143,84365,84368,17,3503,721,83122,83123,87207,82565,82524,82507,88149,83129,83402,82780,82508,1540,84142,82558,84457,82533,107,84145,83127],"class_list":{"0":"post-286659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-amers","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-cen","11":"tag-destef-business-world-at-work","12":"tag-destef-markets-macromatters","13":"tag-destlita","14":"tag-destobnk","15":"tag-destocabsm","16":"tag-destoemp","17":"tag-destolgrb","18":"tag-destopub","19":"tag-destortao","20":"tag-destousbsm","21":"tag-destousdnm","22":"tag-destoustpm","23":"tag-eci","24":"tag-eco","25":"tag-economy","26":"tag-efbusiness-world-at-work","27":"tag-efmarkets-macromatters","28":"tag-eire","29":"tag-gen","30":"tag-ie","31":"tag-ilei","32":"tag-infl","33":"tag-int","34":"tag-ireland","35":"tag-job","36":"tag-legal","37":"tag-mce","38":"tag-mplt","39":"tag-mtgfx","40":"tag-mtpix","41":"tag-namer","42":"tag-news1","43":"tag-nrlpaobnk","44":"tag-nrlpaoemp","45":"tag-nrlpaopub","46":"tag-packageus-top-news","47":"tag-pol","48":"tag-potus","49":"tag-rep","50":"tag-reuters-legal","51":"tag-stx","52":"tag-topnws","53":"tag-us","54":"tag-us-claims1","55":"tag-wash"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation 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