U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Dip To Two-Month Low

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped in the week ended July 11th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 208,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 216,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 199,000 in the week ended May 2nd.

"Initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since May, consistent with the low and stable layoff rate that has defined the labor market in recent months," said Matthew Martin, Senior U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, "Summer shutdowns at automakers for retooling were smaller in scale this year, driving much of the decline in seasonally adjusted claims."

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 214,250, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 219,000.

The Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 16,000 to 1.805 million in the week ended July 4th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still crept up to 1,811,000, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,809,750.

"The decent pace of nonfarm payroll gains amid weak labor-supply conditions should translate into lower continued claims in the weeks ahead," said Martin.