US initial jobless claims near 4-year high

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims increased by 27,000 last week to 263,000, according to the US Labor Department data released on Thursday.

This was the highest level of initial jobless claims figures since Oct. 23, 2021.

The figure came far above the market forecasts of 235,000, and was up from the previous week's downwardly revised level of 236,000.

The four-week moving average was 240,500 – a rise of 9,750 from the previous week's downwardly revised average of 230,750.

In August, the US economy added 22,000 jobs, well below market forecasts of 75,000.

June figure for the non-farm payrolls was revised downwards by 27,000 to a loss of 13,000, marking the first loss since December 2020.

Meanwhile, annual revisions to the non-farm payroll data for the year before March 2025 revealed a decrease of 911,000 from the initial estimates, the largest downward revision in more than two decades.

Unemployment rose to 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July, matching market forecasts.