Number of new jobless benefit claimants rises in US

Thu Jul 1

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of new claimants for US unemployment benefits edged higher last week, posting the third consecutive increase, government data showed.

The number of new claimants climbed 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000 in the week ended June 26 following a jump of 14,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The result disappointed private economists who had forecast a moderate fall in claims.

A four-week average of new claims, which smoothes out weekly blips, rose 2,500 to 347,000.

In raw, unadjusted figures, the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell 3,311 to 320,120. There were 394,214 claims in the comparable period last year.

The existing pool of claimants -- those lodging claims for two weeks or more -- rose 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.97 million in the week ended June 19, the latest date for which those figures are available.

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