US Initial Jobless Claims at 215,000, Slightly Below Forecast

U.S. initial jobless claims came in slightly below market expectations last week.

The U.S. Labor Department said July 2 that initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 215,000 last week. That was 4,000 below economists’ forecast of 219,000 and 1,000 fewer than the prior week’s revised 216,000.

Continuing claims, which measure the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for a second consecutive week, totaled 1.814 million. That was up 2,000 from the prior week’s revised 1.812 million and 4,000 above the market forecast of 1.81 million.

Initial jobless claims are a closely watched indicator of conditions in the U.S. labor market. An increase in claims can signal that an overheated labor market is starting to cool.