The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week, but Hurricane Helene's rampage in the U.S. Southeast and strikes at Boeing and ports could distort the labor market picture in the near term.

There were 225,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending September 28, the weekly data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. This print followed the previous week's print of 219,000 (revised from 218,000) and came in slightly worse than the market expectation of 220,000.

Weekly Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending September 28 were 225,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level, according to data the Labor Department released on Thursday. The number is above the average economist estimate of 221,

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that jobless claims increased by 6,000 to 225,000 for the week ending September 28.

In the week through Sept. 28, there were 225,000 initial jobless claims, compared economists expectations of 220,000 initial claims.