First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended April 18th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 214,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 208,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 212,000 from the 207,000 originally reported for the previous week.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.