U.S. Jobless Claims Fell Last Week in Still-Strong Labor Market

By Christian Robles

Worker filings for unemployment benefits dropped last week, a sign that the labor market remains solid.

Initial claims, a proxy for layoffs, declined 12,000 in the week ended July 8 to a seasonally adjusted 237,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Weekly claims crept up early in the year as companies in the tech, finance and real-estate industries cut workers. Since March, filings have hovered around 250,000.

The four-week average of weekly claims, which smooths volatility in weekly numbers, decreased to 246,750.

Initial claims are still at relatively low levels, a signal of labor market resilience despite Federal Reserve interest-rate increases aimed at cooling the economy and bringing down high inflation. Claims averaged 220,000 a week in 2019 before the pandemic when the labor market also was strong.

U.S. employers added 209,000 workers last month, the smallest gain in two and a half years of monthly job growth, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%. Average hourly wages grew 4.4% in June from a year earlier.

Continuing claims, which reflect the number of people seeking an additional week of unemployment, increased by 11,000 to 1.729 million in the week ended July 1. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.

Write to Christian Robles at christian.robles@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2023 09:04 ET (13:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.