U.S. Jobless Claims Rise Slightly More Than Expected To 238,000

With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week...

RTT Staff Writer•Wednesday, July 3, 2024•1 min read

With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 29th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 238,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 234,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 235,000 from the 233,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 238,500, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 236,250.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 26,000 to 1.858 million in the week ended June 22nd, reaching the highest level since hitting 1.878 million in the week ended November 27, 2021.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,831,000, an increase of 16,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,814,250.

With the increase, the four-week moving average of continuing claims reached its highest level since hitting 1,859,750 in the week ended December 4, 2021.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of June.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 190,000 jobs in June after surging by 272,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.0 percent.

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