The number of people filing for state unemployment benefits for the first time held steady at a 20-month high last week, remaining up for the third week in a row. This could bring an early indication of a weakening labor market in the face of aggressive credit tightening from the Federal Reserve.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday showed 264,000 new claims were filed for unemployment benefits on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended June 17, unchanged from the previous week's upwardly revised level, which was the highest level of initial claims activity since October 2021.
The median expectation among economists polled by Reuters was for 260,000 new claims.
Meanwhile, the number of jobless benefit claims fell to 1.759 million in the week ended June 10 from a revised 1.772 million in the previous week. The latest reading compares with economists' median estimate of 1.782 million.
The government also reported that the U.S. current account deficit the broadest measure of the flow of goods, services and investment into and out of the country grew moderately in the first three months of 2023.
The Commerce Department said the current account gap widened to $219.3 billion in the first quarter from a revised $216.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected it to widen to $217.5 billion.
