The data from
the Labour Department announced
on Thursday the number of applications for unemployment decreased less than expected last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 5,000 to 238,000
for the week ended June 15. This marked the first drop in first-time
unemployment claims in four weeks.
Economists had predicted
235,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 243,000 from the original estimate of 242,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims jumped to 232,750 from an upwardly unrevised 227,250 (from 227,000) in the previous week.
This represented the highest count since
the week ended September 2, 2023 (237.750).
As for
continuing claims, they increased to 1,828,000 compared to a downwardly revised 1,813,000
(from 1,820,000) in the previous week. This was the highest reading since
the week ended January 20 (~1,830,000). Economists had forecast continuing jobless claims of 1,810,000.