Financial News: U.S. Jobless Claims Climb More Than Expected To

U.S. Jobless Claims Climb More Than Expected To 211,000

05/14/2026 - 10:31:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended May 9th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 211,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level of 199,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 205,000 from the 200,000 originally reported for the previous week.

"The latest jobless claims figures are largely consistent with other labor market data showing a stable-to-improving job market," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, "The ongoing conflict with Iran could still have some spillover effects on the labor market, but for now the Fed should feel comfortable leaving policy on hold while it monitors inflation."

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 203,750, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 203,000.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also rose by 24,000 to 1.782 million in the week ended May 2nd.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still dipped to 1,781,000, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,787,750.

Last Friday, the Labor Department released a more closely watched report showing employment in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of April.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 115,000 jobs in April after surging by an upwardly revised 185,000 jobs in March.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 63,000 jobs compared to the jump of 178,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate came in at 4.3 percent in April, unchanged from March and in line with economist estimates.

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