EmailThe initial claims level fell from an upwardly revised 388,000 (from 386,000) for the week ending June 23 to 374,000 for the week ending June 30. The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to fall to 385,000.
It is notable that claims fell below 380,000 for the first time since the middle of May. However, these levels are still not strong enough to justify payroll gains in excess of 200,000. Instead, the claims levels suggest job growth in the neighborhood of 100,000. That is enough to keep the unemployment rate steady, but not enough to support a steady downward trend. The continuing claims level increased slightly from an upwardly revised 3.302 million (from 3.296 million) for the week ending June 16 to 3.306 mln for the week ending June 23. The consensus expected the continuing claims level to fall to 3.283 million.
