On the eve of the release of the highly anticipated monthly employment report, the Labor Department disclosed on Thursday a significant rise in initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ending July 27th, surpassing expectations.
According to the report, first-time jobless claims escalated to 249,000, reflecting an increase of 14,000 from the prior week's unadjusted figure of 235,000. Economists had forecast a modest rise to 236,000.
Moreover, the Labor Department highlighted a notable uptick in the less volatile four-week moving average, which advanced to 238,000—a rise of 2,500 from the previous week's unaltered average of 235,500.
