Jobless Claims: Slowly Rising Again

Bottom Line:   Claims rose over 87k on an unadjusted basis, more than the seasonal factor suggested coming off the Thanksgiving week. Seasonally adjusted claims rose 4k, pushing the trend slightly higher again but still below the pace of increases seen in June and July. On a trend basis, continuing claims are trending slightly higher, suggesting labor market tightness is only easing very slowly.Initial Jobless Claims ROSE 4k in the week ended December 3rd to 230k, BELOW the 4-week average of 230k, ABOVE the 13-week average of 219k, nearly in line with the year-ago level of 228k. Claims for the 26th of Nov were revised up from +225k to +226k. Non-seasonally adjusted Claims ROSE 87.113k.Continuing Claims ROSE 62k in the week ended November 26th to 1.671M, ABOVE the 4-week average of 1.58225M, ABOVE the 13-week average of 1.460462M but 427k BELOW the year-ago level. Continuing Claims for the 19th of Nov were revised up from +1.608M to +1.609M.