Washington, DC, July 6, 2006—Claims unemployment benefits fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 313,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Wall Street economists had been expecting claims to inch higher to about 315,000. Claims in the previous week were revised to a gain of 6,000 to 315,000 compared with the previous estimate of a 4,000 rise to 313,000.
The four-week average of new claims rose by 2,500 to 308,500 in the week ended July 1.
Economists say the four-week average provides a more accurate snapshot of the labor market since it smoothes out one-time events that can distort the weekly figures. Read full report.
In the latest week, there were no special factors that influenced the claims data, a Labor Department spokesman said.
