U.S. Unemployment Aid Applications Rise Once Again

Here’s your weekly jobless claims update:

Applications for jobless benefits rose by 7,000 for the week ending July 20, bringing the total to 343,000, up from last week’s revised figure of 336,000, the Labor Department announced on Thursday.

The four-week moving average, a “less volatile” figure, fell by 1,250, bringing the total to 345,250, down from the previous average of 346,500.

“The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending July 13, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate,” the report reads.

“The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 13 was 2,997,000, a decrease of 119,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,116,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,023,250, an increase of 2,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,020,750,” it adds.

The states with the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 13 were Georgia (+7,027), California (+6,799), Texas (+6,001), Alabama (+5,846), and Tennessee (+3,820).

Meanwhile, Michigan (-11,969), New York (-4,743), New Jersey (-4,477), Ohio (-2,501), and Kentucky (-2,163) posted the biggest decreases in initial claims.

Markets are off to a rough start today: