Unemployment claims in the US exceeded expectations. Last week, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits across the USA was announced as 203 thousand people.
The U.S. Department of Labor has released unemployment claims data. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits in the week of May 7 increased by a thousand compared to the previous period and rose to 203 thousand.
Expectations were that the number of applications would remain below 200,000. In the surveys conducted by institutions such as Reuters and Bloomberg with economists, the expectation was that the number of applications would be between 193 thousand and 195 thousand. With the latest applications, the number of people claiming unemployment benefits has reached the highest level since February.
On the other hand, the total number of applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 44 thousand to 1 million 343 thousand. Experts remind that there are around 11.5 million vacancies across the country despite the unemployment benefits applications. It is stated that this is also a record level.
Producer inflation exceeded expectations
Another data that exceeded expectations in the US economy was producer inflation. Producer Price Index PPI rose 0.5 percent in April. With the last increase, the annual PPI rate rose to 11 percent. PPI was realized as 11.5 percent in March.
While the price increase excluding food and energy was 0.6 percent in April, this increase was 0.9 percent in March.
Economists point out that the prices, which follow a permanent course in producer prices, will continue to be reflected in consumer prices, and this will continue to keep inflation at a high level.
It is pointed out that after the latest figures, the annual inflation target of 2 percent is far away from the target, and it is pointed out that the US Federal Reserve (FED) will continue to increase interest rates as expected.