U.S. jobless claims rise above expectations

Initial state unemployment benefits claims increase 18,000 to seasonally adjusted 354,000

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but not enough to signal a material shift from the recent pace of moderate job growth.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 354,000, the U.S. Labor Department said on June 20. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 2,000 more applications received than previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected first-time applications to rise to 340,000 last week.

The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, rose 2,500 to 348,250.

A Labor Department analyst said no states had been estimated and there was nothing unusual in the state-level data.

Despite the increase last week, claims remained in the middle of their range for this year.

Last week's data covered the period in which the government surveyed companies for June's non-farm payrolls count. Claims increased 10,000 between the May and June survey periods, suggesting little change in the pace of job creation.

Employers added 175,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month, with the unemployment rate ticking up a tenth of a percentage point to 7.6 per cent. Job gains have averaged 172,000 per month over the last 12 months.

The Federal Reserve, which has been closely monitoring the labour market, said downside risks to the outlook for the jobs market had diminished since the fall and painted a fairly upbeat picture of the economy.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank expected to slow the pace of its bond purchases later this year and bring them to a halt around the middle of 2014. The Fed is buying $85 billion in bonds per month in an effort to keep interest rates low and drive down still-high unemployment.

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 40,000 to 2.95 million in the week ended June 8.

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