- Initial jobless claims are a proxy for layoffs.
- They fell to 229,000 last week from the previous week’s revised level of 231,000.
- Claims have climbed upward since hitting a 53-year low this spring.
U.S. Jobless Claims Dropped 2K to 229K in the Week of June 18. In spite of indications of an economic downturn; the number of new applications for unemployment benefits decreased last week; and remained close to historic lows.
Initial applications for unemployment insurance; a proxy for layoffs, decreased from the prior week’s revised number of 231,000; to a seasonally adjusted 229,000 last week; the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
That is a little bit more than the notoriously tight employment market’s 2019 prepandemic; weekly average of 218,000.
Read More: U.S. initial jobless claims drop
Since falling to a 53-year low this spring, claims have been rising rapidly.
The claims four-week average, which reduces the variance in the weekly numbers; rose to 223,500.
According to the statistics released on Thursday; continuing claims—a proxy for the overall number of persons getting benefits from state unemployment programs; the numbers rose to 1.32 million from 1.31 million the week before. There is a one-week delay in reporting continuing claims.
Read More: 17 States that have lowest unemployment
