U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Pull Back Off Highest Level Since October 2021

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 24th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 239,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised level of 265,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 270,000 from the 264,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The upwardly revised figure for the previous week reflected the most jobless claims since the week ended October 23, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 257,500, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 256,000.

With the uptick, the four-week moving average reached its highest level since hitting 260,000 in the week ended November 13, 2021.

The report also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, dipped by 19,000 to 1.742 million in the week ended June 17th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also slipped to 1,757,500, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,770,500.

"Initial jobless claims gave back much of their recent increase in the week ended June 24, while continued claims continued their retreat from their recent peak," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead US Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, "The data are a reminder that labor markets are still quite tight, raising the risk the FOMC raises rates next month."

Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of June.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 200,000 jobs in June after surging by 339,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.7 percent.