The short version is that initial claims rose and continuing claims fell.
There is some additional context, as last week's numbers were revised up.
Filings for US unemployment benefits rose last week after hovering near historic lows.
Initial claims increased by 9,000 to 209,000 in the week ended Aug. 8, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 202,000.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, fell to 1.78 million in the previous week.
The increase in filings could reflect typical summertime volatility in a period when seasonal employment patterns and the timing of holidays often affect the data. Economists will look for more than one week’s worth of data before reassessing the recent stability of the labor market.
Meanwhile, Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation is holding steady, which makes it less likely that the Fed will raise rates at their next meeting.
U.S. producer prices were unchanged in July as goods prices fell and the cost of services increased marginally, bolstering financial market expectations that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates unchanged next month.
The report from the Labor Department on Thursday followed news on Wednesday of mild consumer inflation last month. The data led most economists to also expect moderate readings in the Personal Consumption Expenditures price indexes in July.
Damned if I know what the hell is going on right now.
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