U.S. Jobless Claims Rise to 270,000

By Anna Louie Sussman 

        WASHINGTON--The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless benefits last week edged up slightly but remained at a level consistent with a firming labor market.
        Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, rose by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 270,000 in the week ended Aug. 1, the Labor Department said Thursday.
        Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast 271,000 new applications for jobless benefits last week.
        Claims figures have been volatile in recent weeks, due to temporary summer shutdowns for retooling at auto factories. In July, claims figures dropped to 255,000, the lowest since 1973. They have been consistently at or below 285,000 since April of this year.
        The four-week moving average fell by 6,500 to 268,250, the lowest level since mid-May.
        The claims numbers suggest that the labor market is firming, at least by some measures. In June, the economy added 223,000 positions for 57 straight months of job creation, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.3%, the lowest level since April 2008.
        "Initial claims for unemployment insurance have been below 300,000 for 22 straight weeks, the longest such stretch since 1973. Claims are running at a pace consistent with monthly job growth of better than 200,000," said Gus Faucher, a senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group, in an analyst note.
        The Labor Department will release the July employment report Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal forecast the U.S. economy added about 215,000 jobs last month.
        But other measures, such as wages, hint that there may still be pockets of slack. U.S. labor costs rose at the slowest pace in at least three decades in the second quarter, a sign of stubbornly sluggish wage growth that could weigh on the Federal Reserve's decision to raise short-term interest rates.
        Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen told lawmakers in July that "The labor market is getting demonstrably closer, in my view, by almost any metric to a more normal state."
        Thursday's claims data showed the number of continuing unemployment benefit claims--those drawn by workers for more than a week--decreased by 14,000 to 2,255,000 in the week ended July 25. The previous week's level was revised up to 2,269,000 from a previously reported 2,262,000. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.
        Write to Anna Louie Sussman at anna.sussman@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        August 06, 2015 10:26 ET (14:26 GMT)

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