WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended August 2nd.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 226,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level of 219,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 221,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week.
'Initial jobless claims rose in the week ended August 2 but remain at levels that are consistent with a low pace of layoffs,' said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 220,750, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 221,250.
The Labor Department also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 38,000 to 1.974 million in the week ended July 26th.
With the increase, continuing claims reached their highest level since hitting 2.041 million in the week ended November 6, 2021.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims crept up to 1,951,750, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,946,750.
'The rise in continued claims since April - a sign that unemployed persons are finding it tough to find new jobs - makes even more sense after the sharp downward revisions to job growth in May and June,' said Vanden Houten.
Last Friday, the Labor Department released a separate report showing job growth in the U.S. fell well short of economist estimates in the month of July.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 73,000 jobs in July, while economists had expected employment to jump by 110,000 jobs.
The report also showed much larger than normal downward revisions to job growth in May and June, with employment in the two months increasing by a combined 258,000 fewer jobs than previously reported.
With the downward revisions, employment in May edged up by 19,000 jobs, while employment in June crept up by 14,000 jobs.
The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate inched up to 4.2 percent in July from 4.1 percent in June, with the uptick matching expectations.
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