U.S. Unemployment Claims Rose Last Week

The number of people filing for new jobless claims rose last week, but consistent with Fed’s employment growth.

Unemployment claims increased by 13,000 to 277,000 in the week ended June 11, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. This is the first increase in claims since the week that ended May 7.

Economists surveyed earlier had expected 269,000 new applications for jobless claims, from an unrevised 264,000 in the week ended June 4. On a monthly moving average, jobless claims fell by 250 last week to 269,250.

Generally, unemployment benefits have declined since the spring 2009 peak and touched a 40-year low in April.

Claims have remained below 300,000 for 67 straight weeks, the longest streak since 1973—when the U.S. workforce was far smaller than it is today.

Normally, low unemployment claims come with an expanding job market. But recently hiring has slowed to 38,000 in May, the weakest since September 2010 and average monthly job growth over three months was 116,000, a sharp drop from the average monthly 219,000 over the prior year.

The slowdown is the new Fed issue, despite the economy recording positive data from the labor market, including low unemployment claims and rising wages.

“The pace of improvement in the labor market has slowed… Although the unemployment rate has declined, job gains have diminished,” Fed officials said Wednesday in a statement announcing that they held the central bank’s benchmark interest rate steady.