U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Up To 269,000

(RTTNews) - With the monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended July 30th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 269,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000. Economists had expected claims to edge down to 265,000.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also climbed to 260,250, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 256,500.

The uptick by the four-week moving average came after it fell to its lowest level since the week ended April 23rd in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the report also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, slipped by 6,000 to 2.138 million in the week ended July 23rd.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still rose to 2,141,750, an increase of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 2,136,500.

Friday morning, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report.

The report is expected to show an increase of about 185,000 jobs in July after employment jumped by 287,000 jobs in June. The unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.8 percent from 4.9 percent.