Americans filing for unemployment benefits were unexpectedly greater in number last week, though the trend continued to point to a healthy labour market.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 3,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 269,000 for the week ended July 30, Claims for the prior week were unrevised.
Economists had forecast initial claims edging down to 265,000 in the latest week.
Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a strong labour market, for 74 consecutive weeks, the longest streak since 1973. With the labour market perceived to be either at or approaching full employment, there is probably limited scope for further declines in claims.
Experts point out, however, that claims tend to be volatile around this time of the year when automobile manufacturers typically idle assembly lines for retooling. There are those car makers, however, who often keep production running, which can throw off the model the government uses to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data.
