"Claims offer some encouragement on the labor market front"
- Millan Mulraine, a senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities
The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits declined to 374,000 in the week ended June 30 from 386,000 the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday.
"Claims offer some encouragement on the labor market front," said Millan Mulraine, a senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities in New York. "I would caution by saying this series is notoriously volatile. We would hope this is sustained for the coming months."
Also Thursday, a report showed U.S. service industries expanded in June at a slower pace, compared to the prior month. The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index declined to 52.1 from 53.7 in May.
"Business activity in the services, construction and government sectors of the economy decelerated in June but is still growing at a modest pace," Steven Wood, principal economist at Insight Economics LLC in Danville, California, said in an e-mail to clients.
"A cyclical economic expansion is currently in place but it has softened in the past three months."
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