The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid increased last week, while the job market kept stable as a whole, the Labor Department said Thursday.
In the week that ended on June 25, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits rose to 268,000, an increase of 10,000 from the revised reading for the previous week. It marks the 69th consecutive week of initial claims below 300,000, a benchmark for real job growth or loss in the economy, the longest streak since 1973, said the Labor Department.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, was 266,750, remained unchanged from the previous week's revised average. The advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week that ended on June 18 fell by 20,000 from the previous week to 2,120,000.
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