Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Increase by 13,000

The weekly rate of new unemployment claims jumped by a seasonally adjusted 13,000 claims, a 2.8% increase that brings total new claims for the week ending June 26 to 472,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Weekly rates are prone to sharp fluctuation, and the monthly data for June — scheduled for release Friday — will provide a more comprehensive picture on employment trends. The Labor Department said Thursday that the four-week moving average of new claims was 466,500, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 463,250. Unadjusted, there were 438,305 claims for the week ending June 26, up by 14,867 claims, or 3.5%, from 423,438 a week ago. However, unadjusted claims are down 22% compared to the same week one year ago, when new claims total 559,857. While temporary workers hired by the Commerce Department to conduct the 2010 Census are beginning to re-enter the work force, new claims by former federal civilian employees were down slightly week over week. However, total claims by former federal employees were up 245 claims to 18,082. The report said the states with the highest increases in initial claims were Pennsylvania (3,460), New Jersey (1,708), Iowa (1,494), Maryland (1,404), and Michigan (1,251), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (3,711), California (3,629), New York (3,566), Georgia (1,921), and South Carolina (1,565). State agencies that chose to provide commentary to the Labor Department cited reduced layoffs in industries ranging from trade and service, construction, real estate, rental and leasing, as well as manufacturing as the reason for decreased claims. The states that provided commentary on increased claims cited increased layoffs in manufacturing, along with transportation, warehousing and the service sectors. Write to Austin Kilgore.