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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were unchanged at
a seasonally adjusted 254,000 for the week ended July 9, the
Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims are near the 43-year
low of 248,000 touched in mid-April.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast initial claims rising
to 265,000 in the latest week. Claims have now been below
300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market, for
71 consecutive weeks, the longest stretch since 1973.
The labor market is on a strong footing, with nonfarm payrolls
increasing by a robust 287,000 jobs in June, which should
underpin economic growth for the rest of the year.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors
influencing last week's claims data and no states had been
estimated.
Claims are, however, entering a period of volatility.
Automobile manufacturers normally idle assembly lines for
retooling in summer but some often keep production running,
which can throw off the model the government uses to strip out
seasonal fluctuations from the data.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better
measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week
volatility, fell 5,750 to 259,000 last week.
The claims report showed the number of people still receiving
benefits after an initial week of aid increased 32,000 to 2.15
million in the week ended July 2. The four-week average of the
so-called continuing claims fell 3,250 to 2.14 million.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
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