New jobless claims rose last week, ending a three-week streak of improvements.
For the week ended Feburary 12, workers filed 248,000 initial claims for unemployment. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting 218,000 new claims. In the prior week workers filed a revised 225,000 claims.
Even with the rise in filings last week, jobless claims hovered near pre-pandemic levels. In 2019 the weekly average of new claims was approximately 220,000.
