SAN FRANCISCO, CA – MAY 30: A job seeker holds a pamphlet during a job and career fair at City College of San Francisco southeast campus on May 30, 2013 in San Francisco, California. Hundreds of job seekers attended a career fair hosted by the San Francisco Southeast Community Facility Commission. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The firing rate for the week ending July 11, as the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits fell last week to 281,000. The prior week was downwardly revised to 296,00. Wall Street expected claims to fall to 285,000 from an initially reported 297,000.
The 4-week moving average — which is widely considered a better gauge of labor market conditions, as it irons out week-to-week swings — was 282,500, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average.
The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 279,500 to 279,250.
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 4 were in Michigan (+9,961), New York (+6,488), California (+5,714), Ohio (+3,190), and Missouri (+2,661), while the largest decreases were in New Jersey (-3,276), Texas (-2,405), Connecticut (-2,180), Maryland (-1,304), and South Carolina (-905).
