Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose unexpectedly, but remained in territory consistent with a strengthening labor market, official data showed on Thursday.
The Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 1 increased by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 248,000 from the previous week’s total of 244,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to fall to 243,000 last week.
The four-week moving average was 243,000, down 750 from the previous week. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Continuing jobless claims inched up to 1.956 million from 1.945 million in the preceding week. Analysts had expected continuing claims to dip to 1.939 million.