WASHINGTON — Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were unchanged from the upwardly revised 384,000 level in the June 21 week the Labor Department reported yesterday.
Analysts had expected initial jobless claims in the latest week to decline to 380,000. The previous week’s initial claims level was revised slightly upward to 384,00 from the original 380,000.
Seasonal adjustments had expected an increase in the latest week’s unadjusted claims of 1.5% in line with the 1.6% pick-up in actual unadjusted claims.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was 378,250, up 2,250 in the June 21 week. The reading was the highest since 388,750 was reported in the Oct. 8 week in 2005.
Continuing claims for the June 14 week were up 82,000 to 3,139,000, the highest reading since the Feb. 7 week in 2004 when it was 3,184,000. They first topped the three million level in the April 19 week.
— Market News International
