US unemployment claims rise to 206,000 last week, remain near historically low levels

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, although the latest reading remained near historically low levels, indicating continued resilience in the US labour market.

Initial jobless claims increased to 206,000 in the week ended August 29, according to data released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday. The figure was slightly above the initial estimate of 205,000 and up from the previous week’s revised 204,000, which was earlier reported at 203,000.

The four-week moving average of initial claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, also edged higher. It rose by 1,500 to 207,250, compared with the previous week’s revised average.


Meanwhile, continuing jobless claims, which track people who remain on unemployment benefits after filing an initial claim, increased by 8,000 to 1.779 million in the week ended August 22.