U.S. Jobless Claims Pull Back Off Eight-Month High

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged modestly lower in the week ended June 14th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 245,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 250,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 245,000 from the 248,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The upwardly revised figure for the previous week marked the highest level for jobless claims since they hit 259,000 in the week ended October 5, 2024.

"Despite the slight decline in initial jobless claims in the week ending June 14, both initial and continuing unemployment claims are trending higher, consistent with a gradual softening in labor market conditions," said Michael Pearce, Deputy Chief US Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, "Even so, with inflation risks looming, we do not think the economy is weakening by enough to force the Federal Reserve into rate cuts in the coming months."

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 245,500, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 240,750.

With the uptick, the four-week moving average reached its highest level since hitting 246,000 in the week ended August 19, 2023.

The Labor Department also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, edged down by 6,000 to 1.945 million in the week ended June 7th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still rose by 13,000 to 1,926,250, reaching the highest level since November 2021.