Jobless Claims Lowest Since 2006 at 284,000 in July 19 Week

WASHINGTON (MNI) - Initial jobless claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell 19,000 to 284,000 in the week ending July 19 - the lowest since February 2006 - the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The 284,000 jobless claims was below the 308,000 median expectation from a survey of forecasts compiled by MNI. The July 12 week was revised
up 1,000 to 303,000.

The Labor Department said there were no special factors, but a Labor analyst said that seasonal layoffs in the manufacturing industry that usually occur in July continued, and that the month of July is usually volatile.

The four week moving average for initial claims fell by 7,250 to 302,000 which the lowest since May 2007.

The Labor Department said seasonal adjustment factors had expected a 15.8% decrease in unadjusted claims. Instead, unadjusted claims fell
21.1% to 292,344. That level is below the 340,457 level reported in the comparable week a year ago.

The level of continuing claims came in at 2.500 million after seasonal adjustment in the July 12 week, an decrease of 8,000 from the previous week, and the four week moving average fell 17,000 to 2.542.

The level of unadjusted continuing claims fell 3,326 to 2,554,739 in the July 12 week, which is below the 3,047,517 during the same
week last year.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.9% in the July 12 week is slightly lower than the 2.0% insured
unemployment rate during the comparable week a year ago.

The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and labor force reentrants included in the monthly report.

The Labor Department reported that a total of 2,611,871 persons claimed unemployment benefits in the July 5 week, an increase of 165,383 from the previous week, but is well below the 4,842,653 claims that were seen in the comparable week a year ago. It should be noted that last year's total includes Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

These data are not seasonally adjusted, and include regular state claims, federal employee claims, new veterans claims, extended benefits programs, state additional benefits, and STC/Workshare claims.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.
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