U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise From Nearly Two-Month Low
Reflecting a rebound from a nearly two-month low, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by a little more than expected in the week ended June 25th.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 268,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level of 258,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 266,000 from the 259,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The slightly bigger than expected increase in jobless claims came after they fell to their lowest level since the week ended April 23rd in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average came in at 266,760, unchanged from the previous week's revised average of 266,750.
The report also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 20,000 to 2.120 million in the week ended June 18th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also dipped to 2,133,500, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised average of 2,146,500.
Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report for June.
The material has been provided by 
