WASHINGTON – Initial jobless claims rose 37,000 to 464,000 for the week ending July 17, the Labor Department reported this morning, a figure that was slightly higher than economists had predicted.
But the four-week moving average for continuing claims decreased by 223,000 to 4.487 million for the week ending July 10, which was much lower than predicted.
Economists expected 445,000 initial claims and 4.650 million in continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The 464,000 headline figure follows a downwardly revised 427,000 jobless claims figure for the week ending June 10, originally reported as 429,000.
Similarly, the 4.487 million continuing claims follows a 4.589 million figure for the week ending July 3, originally reported as 4.682 million.
