U.S. jobless claims hit a 10-month high

Last week, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States increased by 4,000 to 230,000, coinciding with economists' forecasts. Meanwhile, the threshold value of 270,000 applications has not yet been reached. Crossing this mark will be a wake-up call for the labor market.

Although the report reflects an increase in the number of continuing jobless claims to a maximum of the last ten months, economists consider this indicator unstable and ask not to pay special attention to it.

Isfar Munir, an economist at Citigroup, said it was too early to regard the increased number of continuing jobless claims as a signal of a weaker labor market. In his opinion, the end of the year is not the right time to look for a new job.

According to the data, the number of citizens who regularly receive benefits increased by 62,000 to 1.671 million. That reading was the highest since February.

Conrad DeQuadros, a senior economic advisor at Brean Capital, believes this could be a signal of a moderate easing of tension in the labor market. If it continues, it will sound like a warning about the prospects of the economy.