First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits showed a modest increase in the week ended August 3rd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, although claims still came in below economist estimates.
The report showed that initial jobless claims edged up to 333,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 328,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 336,000 from the 326,000 originally reported for the previous week.
While the upward revision lifted the figure for the previous week off a five-year low, the revised figure still reflects the lowest since a matching number in the week ended May 4th.
"Layoffs remain close to cycle lows," said Mei Li, an economic analyst at FTN Financial. "In the past two years, however, jobless claims rose in August and September."
"We may see a similar pattern this year," she added. "But for now, claims near a multi-year low support the expectation of Fed tapering in September."
The Labor Department said its less volatile four-week moving average fell to 335,500, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 341,750.
With the modest decrease compared to the previous week, the four-week moving average fell to its lowest level since November of 2007.
Meanwhile, continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose to 3.018 million in the week ended July 27th from the preceding week's unrevised level of 2.951 million.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims dipped to 3,023,750, a decrease of 2,250 from the preceding week's unrevised average of 3,026,000.
Last Friday, the Labor Department released a separate report showing that employment in the U.S. increased by less than economists had expected in the month of July.
The report said non-farm payroll employment increased by 162,000 jobs in July following a downwardly revised increase of 188,000 jobs in June.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 175,000 jobs compared to the addition of 195,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate dipped to 7.4 percent in July from 7.6 percent in June. The unemployment rate had been expected to edge down to 7.5 percent.
With the bigger than expected decrease, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since hitting 7.3 percent in December of 2008.
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