U.S. Jobless Claims Edge Higher

@AFP
U.S. Jobless Claims Edge Higher

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week but the trend in layoffs continued to push lower, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims totaled 336,000 in the week ending August 17, a gain of 13,000 from the prior week’s revised reading of 323,000.

Claims were in line with the average analyst estimate of 337,000.

The four-week moving average of new claims fell by 2,250 to 330,500, the lowest level in nearly six years. The average was 10.4 percent lower than a year ago, further evidence of slow improvement in the distressed labor market since the Great Recession began in late 2007.

The unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.4 percent in July, from 7.6 percent in June, but jobs growth came in at a paltry 162,000.

Photo Credit: AFP/Saul Loeb

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

How A Stuttering President Confronts A Right-Wing Bully

Donald Trump mocks Joe Biden’s stutter,” the headlines blare, and I am confronted (again) with (more) proof that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee hates people like me.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump at Trump Tower

Former President Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New York state seizing some of his marquee properties.Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron's February 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net worth and his family real estate company's property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}