Today, the Department of Labor released initial jobless claims that came in substantially above forecasts — first time claims jumped 15,000 to 382,000.
But the reason for that large of a jump: Hurricane Isaac.
The Department of Labor attributed nearly two thirds of the increase, or 9,000 jobs, to Isaac.
That means the next few weeks of claims may be slightly subdued, Jefferies Economist Thomas Simons says.
"This should work its way out of the claims data in the coming weeks," Simons says. "The hurricane distortion makes claims difficult to interpret this week, but it appears that the 365K-385K range will be maintained."
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