The latest weekly jobless claims report came out Wednesday morning, and they topped estimates. Bloomberg expected claims to come in at 270,000, but the reading blew this prediction out of the water when it came in at 282,000. This new level was also 13,000 higher than the previous week.

Economists might suspect that this latest reading is perhaps pointing to a softening of what has been a very solid labor market.

This is also the highest reading since all the way back in July. But the four-week average is steady, up only 1,500 to 270,750, which is only very slightly over the month-ago trend.

Continuing claims showed an unusual increase, up a very steep 82,000, in lagging data for the November 28 week, to 2.243 million. That is the highest reading since September. The four-week average for continuing claims is up 16,000 to 2.183 million, which is roughly 20,000 higher than the month-ago comparison. The unemployment rate for insured workers remains very low but is up a tenth to 1.7% for the highest reading since, again, back in September.

Claims remain very low, but this report could raise early concerns over the December employment report. This report next week will be very closely watched as the sample week for initial claims will match the sample week for the December report.

There were no special factors behind the increases in this report, although data for Louisiana were estimated for a third straight week, reflecting a computer problem.

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