A day earlier than usual due to the Independence Day holiday on Thursday, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 29th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 221,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 229,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 223,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 222,250, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 221,750.
The Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 8,000 to 1.686 million in the week ended June 22nd.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims slipped to 1,686,500, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,688,250.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report for June.
Employment is expected to increase by 160,000 jobs in June after rising by 75,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.6 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Forex News
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.