Applications for U.S. unemployment insurance increased to a six-week high, driven in part by a jump in Florida claims in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Initial unemployment claims rose by 9,000 to 228,000 in the week ended Oct. 8, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 225,000 new applications.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility from week to week, increased to 211,500.
Continuing claims were little changed at 1.37 million in the week ended Oct. 1.
On an unadjusted basis, initial claims increased by 32,275 to 199,662 last week. The advance was led by a 10,368 jump in Florida after Hurricane Ian destroyed homes and businesses across the region, likely ranking among the costliest storms in U.S. history.
Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Fiona last month, continued to see an elevated number of claims.
Despite a recent decline in job openings and a rise in layoffs in sectors including technology and financial services, employers continue to hire at a strong pace. The U.S. added more than 260,000 jobs in September while the unemployment rate retreated to a five-decade low, government data released last week showed.
The Federal Reserve has been on a path to aggressively raise interest rates in an effort to curb demand across the economy, including for labor.
Fed officials expect the impact from tighter policy, which has already sent borrowing costs for houses and cars soaring, to eventually work its way through the economy and lead to higher unemployment.
However, policy makers said at their September gathering that the labor market remained “very tight,” according to minutes from their the meeting released Wednesday.
