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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 3,000
to a seasonally adjusted 231,000 for the week ended June 30, the
Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims data for the prior
week was revised to show 1,000 more applications received than
previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to
225,000 in the latest week. Claims could become volatile in the
coming weeks as automobile manufacturers close assembly lines
for annual retooling.
More auto workers are likely to be affected by the temporary
plant closures than in the past, which could throw off the model
that the government uses to smooth the data for seasonal
fluctuations. General Motors <GM.N> has announced it will close
its Flint assembly plant for the whole of July.
The Labor Department said only claims for Maine were estimated
last week.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a
better measure of labor market trends as it irons out
week-to-week volatility, rose 2,250 to 224,500 last week.
The labor market is viewed as being near or at full employment,
with the jobless rate at an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. The
unemployment rate has dropped by three-tenths of a percentage
point this year and is near the Federal Reserve's forecast of
3.6 percent by the end of this year.
With a record 6.7 million unfilled jobs, layoffs are running
very low. The government is likely to report on Friday that
employers added 195,000 jobs to their payrolls in June, on top
of the 223,000 positions created in May, according to a Reuters
survey of economists.
The claims report also showed the number of people receiving
benefits after an initial week of aid increased 32,000 to 1.74
million in the week ended June 23. The four-week moving average
of the so-called continuing claims fell 1,750 to 1.72 million,
the lowest level since December 1973.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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