U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Pull Back Slightly Less Than Expected
(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest pullback in the week ended June 15th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 238,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 243,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to fall to 235,000 from the 242,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The upwardly revised number for the previous week marked the highest level since claims reached 248,000 in the week ended August 12, 2003.
"Initial claims fell less than we anticipated in the week ended June 15 and point toward a moderation in growth in nonfarm payrolls in June," said Ryan Sweet, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
He added, "The risk of labor demand being too weak to prevent the unemployment rate from rising could give some support in cutting interest rates as an imbalance in the labor market is unlikely to be a significant factor in future inflation."
The report said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 232,750, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 227,250.
The Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 15,000 to 1.828 million in the week ended June 8th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims advanced to 1,805,500, an increase of 10,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,795,250.
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