July 6 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits increased by 4,000 new claims.
The Labor Department said there were 248,000 seasonally adjusted initial claims in the week ending on Saturday, which is an increase of 4,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average — which attempts to even out weekly volatility — was 243,000 claims, an increase of 750.
Continuing claims, which are taken by workers for longer than a week, increased by 11,000 to 1.95 million in the week ending on June 24. Weekly claims have remained below 300,000 for 122 consecutive weeks, the longest streak since 1970.
Estimates of jobless claims have hovered near four-decade lows in recent months, which suggests employers are holding on to workers, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“In short, claims remain low, consistent with the trend in employment growth remaining more than strong enough to keep the unemployment rate trending down,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a note to clients.
