Applications for US jobless benefits rose again last week

U.S. initial unemployment claims rose to 297,000 in the week ending 4 July, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor said today.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated new programs to plummet to 275,000 just last week.

Which is to say: things may not be as bad as they look. The Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims data on Thursday, July 9, 2015. Stronger demand would probably help persuade employers to boost hiring and assure companies about the USA outlook in the face of weaker overseas markets. According to Bloomberg, the consensus estimate is for 276,000 new claims, with analysts estimates ranging from 260,000 to 290,000.

Even with the increase, weekly claims have been below 300,000 for 18 straight weeks, the longest stretch since 2000 and consistent with a brighter job market. The level still suggests however that the slack in the labor market is continuing to drop and that conditions have tightened overall. It was the highest level for the four-week average since early May. Views of the buying climate and economy were subdued. The average of initial US claims over the past month, meanwhile, rose by a smaller 4,500 to 279,500, indicating that layoffs remain low nationwide.

The timing and extent of closings to re-tool auto factories for the new model year is typically hard for the USA government to gauge, causing claims to gyrate at this time of year.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that for a couple weeks, the jobless claims data would be distorted by the temporary auto plant shutdowns.

The people continuing to receive benefits for unemployment were up 69,000 to over 2.33 million for the week that ended June 27.

The recent reports have pushed officials of the Federal Reserve to conclude that the labor market is in line with the expectations based on Fed’s June meeting that was released on Wednesday.