U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Pull Back Off Four-Month High

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest pullback in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 13th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 226,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 230,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 225,000 from the 229,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The modest decrease in jobless claims came a week after they reached their highest level since hitting a matching figure in the week ended February 7th.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 223,250, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 219,250.

"On a trend basis, initial jobless claims have bounced well off their recent lows," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. "We don't think the increase is signaling a deterioration in labor market conditions but is another indication that, while the labor market has improved, it's not overheating."

The Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 24,000 to 1.810 million in the week ended June 6th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,788,000, an increase of 9,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,778,250.