First Time Jobless Claims Jump By 19,000

According to the Labor Department, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time jumped by 19,000 to 479,000 in the week ended July 31. The week’s increase in the initial jobless claims marks the highest level since early April. The data completely defies the expectations of a decline to 455,000. The claims had been falling consistently last year and had then leveled out to hover in the 450,000 range for the past seven months. Government data indicated that the four-week average of initial claims, which is a better gauge of employment trends, rose by 5,250 to 453,250. Meanwhile, the number of people who continue to receive unemployment checks fell by 34,000 to 4.54 million in the week ended July 24. Over the past four week, continuing claims increased by 25,750 to 4.58 million on an average. All eyes are now on tomorrow's July jobs report which will give a further insight into the hiring practices followed by companies across the country as they struggle to recover from the recession. Read more