The data from the Labor Department revealed on Thursday the number of
applications for unemployment decreased less than predicted last week.
According to the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits fell
by 2,000 to 229,000 for the week ended June 18.
Economists had predicted 227,000 new claims last week.
Claims for
the prior week were revised upwardly to 231,000 from the initial estimate of
229,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of jobless claims increased to 223,500
from an upwardly unrevised 219,000 (from 218,500) in the previous week.
As for continuing claims, they rose to 1,315,000
from a downwardly revised 1,310,000 (from 1,312,000) in the previous week.