WASHINGTON, June 27 - First-time applications for U.S. unemployment benefits drifted lower last week, but the number of people on jobless rolls jumped to a 2-1/2 year high in mid-June, suggesting that labor market conditions were easing amid slowing economic growth.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 233,000 for the week ended June 22, the Labor Department said. The claims data included last Wednesday's Juneteenth National Independence Day, a new holiday. Claims are being monitored for signs whether employers are laying off more workers as the economy slows in response to the 525 basis points worth of interest rate hikes delivered by the U.S. central bank since 2022 to tame inflation.
Growth was previously estimated at a 1.3% pace. The economy expanded at a 3.4% rate in the fourth quarter. While the growth pace likely picked up in the second quarter, it will probably not exceed a rate of 1.8%, which Fed officials regard as the non-inflationary growth pace. The unadjusted so-called continuing claims for Minnesota increased 8,834 during the period under review. The overall continuing claims data covered the period during which the government surveyed households for June's unemployment rate.
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