First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest increase in the week ended July 20th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, with claims coming in slightly above economist estimates.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 343,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 336,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to climb to 341,000 from the 334,000 originally reported for the previous week.
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.