NEW YORK — The total of Americans filing preliminary unemployment claims fell sharply previous week, while those filing ongoing claims rose to a new all-time extreme, according to government data released Thursday.
There were 565,000 primary without a job claims filed in the week ended July 4, down 52,000 from a revised 617,000 the earlier week, the Labor Department Reported.
It was the lowest come to since January and was less than the consensus estimate of 603,000 from economists surveyed by Briefing.Com.
Analysts reported The previous week’s decrease was distorted by a adjustment in the pattern of seasonal layoffs in the automotive industry.
Initial claims typically spike in July as automakers idle several manufacturing plants, and the Labor Department adjusts its data for such seasonal factors.
However, many plant closures occurred early this time, said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wacovia Economics Group.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, primary claims were 577,506.
“The improvement in first week of July was exaggerated by the timing of plant closures,” Vitner said. “This is something we’re going to be dealing with throughout the month.”
Meanwhile, the come to of folks requesting continued seeking work benefits rose to a All-time eminent, indicating that the labor market remains weak.
The government believed continuing claims rose to 6,883,000 in the week ended June 27, the most fresh data available.
That’s an increase of 159,000 from the earlier week’s revised aggregate of 6,724,000 and was the highest Amount since the Labor Department began keeping records in 1967.
The 4-week moving normal of continuing claims rose 12,000 to 6,769,000.
The ongoing ascent in continuing claims suggests that more workers are struggling to re-enter the work force.
“While layoffs have topped out, hiring has not picked up,” Vitner said. “The increase in unemployment rate going forward will be more a result of lack of hiring rather than layoffs,” he believed.
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