With the monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest uptick in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended July 30th. Claims for the prior week were unrevised.
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Jobless claims touched a four-decade low in April and have remained below 300,000 for 74 straight weeks, the longest such streak since 1973, when the US workforce was far smaller than it is today. Economists had expected claims to edge down to 265,000. With the labor market perceived to be either at or approaching full employment, there is probably limited scope for further declines in claims.
Through the gyrations, the trend in claims has remained consistent with jobs market strength.
The four-week moving average, which helps even out short-run swings in the data, rose by 3,750 last week to a seasonally adjusted 260,250.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing last week’s claims data and no states had been estimated.
Weekly jobless claims, or first-time claims for unemployment benefits reported by the Labor Department.
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Individuals continuing to receive unemployment benefits as of the week ending July 23 fell by 6,000 to 2.138 million from the prior week’s upwardly revised level of 2.1444 million (from 2.139 million). But consumer spending might boost the economy in the coming months, with economists estimating that Friday’s employment report will show that 175,000 jobs were added in July.
