Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 fewer applications received than previously reported. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 262,000 applications.
Advertisement
The data overall maintain underlying confidence in the labour market as markets start to look ahead to the next monthly employment report. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, slipped 1,000 to 256,500.
“This week’s release marks 73 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973”.
The rate rose across the region as the labor force increased by 5,389 to 406,397, as students and others entered the job market looking for work.
Claims are sometimes elevated in July, a time of the year when automakers traditionally shut plants to retool and many workers are eligible for temporary benefits. The U.S. central bank left interest rates unchanged amid concerns over persistently low inflation.
The number of Americans receiving benefits ticked up 7,000 to 2.14 million. But hiring roared back in June, when employers added 287,000 jobs, the most in eight months. The four-week average declined to the lowest level since November 2000. The rate in June 2015 was 6.2 percent.
Advertisement
The unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in June from 4.7 percent, still a historically solid level. The four-week average of continuing claims fell 9,750 between the June and July survey periods.
