Jobless Claims Come In Slightly Higher Than Expectations, Continuing Claims Rise

• The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, rose by 7,000 to 219,500.
• Continuing claims hovered in the 1.86 million range for the week ended January 31, increasing by 21,000 over the previous week.
• The largest increase in claims came from Pennsylvania at 5,268, followed by New York at 3,141, whereas the largest decrease in claims was from Nebraska at 2,146 and Virginia at 980.

Weekly jobless claims came in slightly higher than expected, according to data released a day early by the U.S. Department of Labor due to Christmas.

Jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 227,000 in the week ended February 7. This was higher than a Dow Jones estimate of 225,000, as cited by MarketWatch. The previous week’s jobless claims level was revised up by 1,000 to 232,000, according to the Labor Department data.

The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, rose by 7,000 to 219,500.

Overall, jobless claims have been rangebound since the Sept. 13, 2025, week to date, hovering between 192,000 and 237,000. During the Sept. 6, 2025 week, jobless claims came in at 264,000.

Continuing Claims Rise

Continuing claims, which refer to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits beyond the first week, hovered in the 1.86 million range for the week ended January 31, increasing by 21,000 over the previous week.

The largest increase in claims came from Pennsylvania at 5,268, followed by New York at 3,141, whereas the largest decrease in claims was from Nebraska at 2,146 and Virginia at 980.

Job Gains Blow Past Expectations

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 in January, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Wednesday, blowing past Wall Street estimates of an addition of 55,000 roles.

The January unemployment rate came in lower than expected at 4.3%, below the 4.4% estimate. The unemployment rate in December stood at 4.4%, up from 4.5% in November.

The better-than-expected jobs report prompted President Donald Trump to say that the U.S. should be paying the lowest interest rates on its borrowings since it is the strongest country in the world.

However, Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, pointed out in a post on X that following the jobs report, “traders have sharply dialed back expectations for a June rate cut.”

He said that traders have now reduced the probability of a Fed cut in June from roughly 70% to just under 50%.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities were mixed in Wednesday’s opening trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up by 0.11%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) declined 0.3%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) rose 0.38%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bearish’ territory.

The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) was up by 0.26% at the time of writing.

Also See: Samsung Ships First Commercial HBM4 Memory Module, Nvidia’s Vera Rubin Expected To Use It: SSNLF Stock Soars 55%

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