First-time unemployment claims rise again

Washington, D.C., United States (4E) – Initial jobless claims climbed to 386,000 for the week ending June 9, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 380,000, according to the Department of Labor.

Such an increase in the number of claims indicates that recovery in the jobs sector of the economy remains sluggish.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out fluctuations in unemployment claims, was 382,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 378,500.

Other important data — such as the total number of people getting benefits and the states with the biggest changes in claims — lags a few weeks as that information becomes available.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all unemployment compensation insurance programs was 5,824,739 for the week ending May 26, a decrease of 145,990 from the previous week.

States seeing the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 2 were in:

• Oregon (+975)
• Virginia (+838)
• New Mexico (+531)
• Wisconsin (+213)
• Nevada (+189)

The states with the largest decreases in first-time claims were in:

• California (-4,168)
• North Carolina (-2,683)
• Texas (-1,854)
• Massachusetts (-1,373)
• Georgia (-1,367)

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