U.S. weekly jobless claims rise to highest level in four months

Initial U.S. jobless claims jumped 34,000 to 406,000 for the week ended July 19, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday. Claims for the previous week were revised to 372,000. Further, this week's 406,000 statistic was the highest weekly jobless claims tally since March.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected this week's initial jobless claims to total 375,000.

Also, the 4-week moving average increased 4,500 to 382,500. Economists view the 4-week average as a better indicator of unemployment conditions, as it smooths-out anomalies for strikes, holidays, or other idiosyncratic events.

Economist Peter Dawson said "job loss statistics continue to reveal an economy that's barely growing, with no job growth, save a few sectors."

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 12 were in: New York, +13,909, California, +9,416, North Carolina, +9,344, Tennessee, +8,522, and Georgia, +7,000. The largest decreases were in: Michigan, -4,571, New Jersey, -1,835, Kentucky, -1,724, Rhode Island, -1,266, and Massachusetts, -919.

Meanwhile, the number of continuing claims decreased 9,000 to 3.107 million from a revised 3.116 million for the week ended July 12, the latest period for which figures were available.

Economic Analysis: A worse-than-expected weekly jobless claims report. While the 4-week moving average dropped to 382,500, it is still an elevated rate, indicative of soft labor market conditions.