The number of initial jobless claims in the United States has surprisingly increased.
A total of 419,000 Americans filed for government support last week.
In the seven days before it was 368,000, as the Department of Labor in Washington announced on Thursday.
That comes as a surprise: Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had expected a decline to 350,000.
The US Federal Reserve is strengthening the economy and thus also the labor market, which has been thrown back by years by the pandemic, with substantial cash injections of 120 billion dollars per month.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell recently affirmed that the labor market is still “a long way” from the level at which the central bank will cut back monetary support for the economy.
Nevertheless, the Fed will deal with the meltdown in security purchases at the interest rate meeting next week.