U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since February.
Claims for state unemployment benefits were up 15,000 to the seasonally adjusted 297,000 for the week ending July 4, Reuters reports. The rise in claims could suggest a slowdown in market recovery, but the claims have stayed below 300,000 for 18 straight weeks now.
Final claims for the last week of June were adjusted to 282,000, about 1,000 more than originally reported. Economists had predicted a drop in claims this week. Writes Reuters:
Jesse Hurwitz, an economist at Barclays Capital, said that because of the holiday and auto plant shutdowns, he was inclined to look past the volatility in the report. “Trend readings of both initial and continuing claims remain low from a historical perspective, which we expect to continue,” he said.
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