Weekly Unemployment Aid Applications Take Another Fall

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July -- so we get our weekly jobless claims a day early:

Applications for jobless benefits fell 5,000 for the week ending June 29, bringing the total to 343,000, down from last week’s revised figure of 348,000, the Labor Department announced on Wednesday.

The four-week moving average, a “less volatile” figure, fell by 750, bringing the total to 345,500, down from the previous average of 346,250.

Steady, but not showing any great movement in either direction.

“The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending June 15, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate,” the report reads.

“The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 15 was 2,965,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,966,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,973,250, a decrease of 9,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,982,500,” it adds.

The states with the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 22 were in California (+6,181), New Jersey (+4,952), Oregon (+2,076), New York (+1,882), and Massachusetts (+732).

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania (-4,238), Florida (-2,050), North Carolina (-2,009), Ohio (-1,679), and Kentucky (-1,466) posted the biggest decreases in initial claims.

Markets are opening mostly lower: