New jobless claims stubbornly high

Weekly claims for unemployment insurance rose from a revised 561,000 to 576,000 for the period ending August 15th, stubbornly high for this long after a peak in new claims.
Analysts had expected a drop to 550,000, however, according to Bloomberg, last week's reading exceeded the highest forecast among economists they surveyed, a range of 535,000 to 570,000 and, in a sign that it remains quite difficult for displaced workers to find new employment, those continuing to collect unemployment benefits was steady at 6.24 million.

The four-week moving average has now climbed for two weeks in a row, the most recent total now at 570,000, up from 557,000 earlier this month.