U.S. Jobless Claims Rise Slightly More Than Expected To 266,000

05:17, 28th July 2016

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended July 23rd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 266,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level of 252,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 264,000 from the 253,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The revised figure for the previous week represents the lowest number of claims since 248,000 in the week ended April 16th.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 256,500, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 257,500.

With the modest decrease, the four-week moving average fell to its lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended April 23rd.

At the same time, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 7,000 to 2.139 million in the week ended July 16th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still dropped to 2,135,250, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 2,142,250.