WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to 418,000 for the week ending July 2 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims for the week ending June 25 slid 43,000 to 3.681 million.
Economists expected 420,000 initial jobless claims and 3.700 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the week ending June 25 were revised to 432,000. Continuing claims for the week ending June 18 were revised to 3.724 million.
The less volatile four-week moving average of initial claims was 424,750, down from a revised 427,750.
The four-week average for continuing claims in the June 25 week was 3.705 million, down from a revised 3.709 million.
There were 2,500 new claims as a result of the Minnesota government shutdown that began June 30, a Labor Department official said.
"Initial jobless claims are on the verge of entering their mid-summer silly season in which timing difficulties associated with factory shutdowns routinely create large distortions in the reported data," according to Wrightson ICAP economist Lou Crandall,
The Labor Department said the shutdowns were not a big factor in the July 2 report but could cause volatility in coming weeks.
