First Time Jobless Claims Jump 10K

Jobless claims rose 10,000 but it's not due to Puerto Rico where the worst evidently as is over. Initial claims in the November 11 week came in at 249,000 vs expectations for 236,000 but claims in Puerto Rico, which have been backed up since Hurricane Irma swept the Island back in September, totaled 6,565 which is down from 8,281 in the prior week. Yet claims from Puerto Rico are still about three times as high as usual which did contribute to the week's overall increase, one that lifts the 4-week average a sharp 6,500 higher to 237,750. This is the first gain for the average in 7 weeks.

Continuing claims have shown no hurricane effects and fell a sizable 44,000 in lagging data for the November 4 week to 1.860 million. The unemployment rate for insured workers is down 1 tenth to a very low 1.3 percent.

Despite the bump higher in the latest week for initial claims, the data point to very tight conditions in the labor market.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
Initial claims are expected to come in at 236,000 in the November 11 week vs 239,000 in the November 4 week. Hurricane-related claims from Puerto Rico are still a wildcard.