U.S. jobless claims rise modestly, still signal firming labour market

First-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits rose by 10,000 to 277,000 for the week ending September 26, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.

Claims data tends to be uneven from week to week, but have generally been falling since 2009.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly claims numbers, decreased to 270,750 last week, the lowest since early August, from 271,750.

The Labor Department said there were no special factors impacting last week’s claims. Jobless claims touched a 40-year low in the week of July 18 and have been only modestly above that level in recent weeks. Amid many mixed signals about the strength of the economy, jobless claims have been one of the strongest indications that the economy is still growing.

The weekly claims reading has remained below 300,000 since March as the labor market steadily improves. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 271,000. The unemployment rate fell to 5.1%.

Nor does it seem likely that companies will increase layoffs anytime soon.

Thursday’s claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell 53,000 to 2.19 million in the week ended September 19.

Federal Reserve policy makers, who kept interest rates near zero when they met last month, noted global economic and financial market headwinds while citing improvement in the labor market. The government will issue the latest employment report on Friday morning.