-Jim O'Sullivan, High Frequency Economics
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose last week, but remained below a level associated with a healthy labour market. Jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 268,000 in the week ended June 25, a report from the Labour Department showed. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 266,000 from the 259,000 originally reported for the previous week. Continuing claims decreased for the third week in the last four. Meanwhile, the Labour Department reported the less volatile four-week moving average came in at 266,760, unchanged from the previous week's revised average of 266,750. The report also showed that a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance fell by 20,000 to 2.120 million in the week ended June 18th, which is lower than the 2.15 million print penciled in by forecasters.
Economists suggest this is a sign that the poor pace of jobs growth in April and May, which prevented the Federal Reserve from raising rates this month, was likely an aberration. It is unlikely for the labour market to slow down abruptly without a corresponding increase in layoffs, their reasoning goes. The next monthly employment report is scheduled for July 8.
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