US initial jobless claims rise by 20,000

(Sharecast News) - Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 13 July, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims rose by 20,000 to 243,000, above market expectations for a print of 230,000 to register a fresh weekly high, indicating that the US labour market continued to soften throughout the period.

Continuing claims increased by 20,000 to 1.86m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, increased by 1,000 to 234,750.

Notable increases of 11,537 and 6,917 were recorded in Texas and California, respectively.















Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com