US Initial Jobless Claims Rise Moderately

U.S. initial jobless claims rose slightly last week, suggesting that layoffs remain low even as the labor market slows. Initial U.S. jobless claims rose slightly by 0.2 million to 230,000 in the week ended Sept. 7, the Labor Department said Thursday. However, last week's data survey period included the U.S. Labor Day holiday. Initial jobless claims tend to fluctuate around public holidays. In addition, U.S. jobless claims for the week to Aug. 31 were 1.85 million, a small increase of 0.5 million. After spiking in July to levels not seen since the end of 2021, continuing jobless claims mostly trended lower through August. This decline is consistent with the drop in the unemployment rate last month.