WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims increased by 9,000 to 429,000 for the week ending June 18, well above economists’ estimates, as an unusually large number of state claims were estimated, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims dipped to 3.697 million for the week ending June 11 from the 3.698 million reported the week before.
Economists expected 414,000 initial claims and 3.67 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the week ending June 11 were revised higher to 420,000 from 414,000.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was unchanged at 426,250. The four-week average for continuing claims dropped to 3,709,500, declining for the fourth week in a row.
Initial claims reached a 2011 high of 478,000 in the week ended April 30. Claims bottomed at 375,000 in the week ended Feb. 26.
