Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise for Second Straight Week

New claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, the second consecutive week of climbing claims.

The Department of Labor said that there were a seasonally adjusted 351,000 initial claims for state unemployment benefits in the week ended September 18, up from 335,000 in the previous week.

The four-week moving average—which smooths out short-term volatility—fell by 750 to 335,750. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 to 336,500.

The rising number of new claims, which are a proxy for layoffs, raises the risk that progress in the labor market may have stalled as the economy suffers the one-two punch of supply chain disruptions and the Delta variant.

Continuing claims rose 131,000 to 2,845,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 49,000 from 2,665,000 to 2,714,000.