US Jobless Claims Rose Last Week to 227,000
June 27 2019 - 8:00AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Kiernan and Harriet Torry
WASHINGTON--The number of Americans filing applications for new
unemployment benefits rose last week, a possible sign that trade
disputes and slowing global growth are starting to affect the
domestic economy.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S.,
were a seasonally adjusted 227,000 in the week ended June 22, up
10,000 from the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected 219,000 new
claims last week.
Jobless claims can be volatile from week to week. The four-week
moving average of claims, a steadier measure, increased 2,250 to
221,250.
Claims have remained near historic lows in recent months amid
continued hiring by businesses and low unemployment. The tight
labor market remains a relative bright spot in an economic outlook
that has become increasingly clouded by uncertainty surrounding the
Trump administration's trade policies and other factors.
Thursday's report also showed the number of claims workers made
for longer than a week increasing 22,000 in the week ended June 15
to 1,688,000. The figure, also known as continuing claims, is
reported with a one-week lag.
The Labor Department report on jobless claims can be accessed
at: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm.
-Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com and Harriet Torry
at harriet.torry@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 27, 2019 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)
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