Initial jobless claims came in at 226,000 for the week ending June 13, down from 230,000 the prior week. The number landed squarely within the range that economists had been targeting, somewhere between 225,000 and 230,000.
Continuing claims, which track the number of people still collecting unemployment benefits, hit 1.81 million for the week ending June 6. That’s a slight uptick from the recent range of 1.795 million to 1.8 million.
The numbers in context
The 226,000 figure represents a modest improvement after initial claims had touched 229,000 in the week of June 6, which marked a multi-month peak.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, sits in the low-to-mid 219,000 range.
