Jobless Claims in U.S. Climbed Last Week From Four-Decade Low

Source: Bloomberg

July 30, 2015 — 8:30 AM EDT

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose last week after reaching a four-decade low, consistent with a stronger labor market.

Jobless claims increased by 12,000 to 267,000 in the period ended July 25, from 255,000 the prior week that was the lowest since November 1973, a report from the Labor Department showed Thursday. The median forecast of 46 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 270,000. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure of job cuts, declined.

Dismissals holding below 300,000 and sustained hiring would help convince Federal Reserve policy makers that the economy can withstand an increase in the benchmark interest rate.

Claims “are at extremely low levels, which continues to emphasize that the labor market is improving,” Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, said before the report. The improvement in the job market “is enough to keep the economy growing.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/jobless-claims-in-u-s-climbed-last-week-from-four-decade-low