New applications for unemployment benefits rose to 277,000 in the second week of June, the Department of Labor reported Thursday, up from 264,000 the week before and ending a month-long falling streak.
Economists had expected about 270,000 new claims.
First-time jobless claims, which are adjusted for seasonal variations, had spiked up near 300,000 in early May, but then drifted back down to historically low levels over the next month.
Even with Thursday’s increase, claims remain low. They have not crossed the 300,000 mark in 67 weeks, the longest such streak since 1973, when the labor market was much smaller.
The consistently low jobless claims have been among the brightest indicators of the health of the U.S. economy in recent months. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen specifically mentioned the claims data as one of the reasons she still expects commerce to pick up over the course of the year. Claims below 300,000 to 325,000 are thought to signify that the jobs recovery is intact.
Claims are reported on a weekly basis, providing officials and investors a high-frequency gauge of the health of the labor market.
Jobless claims have held up even as payroll job growth has deteriorated this year. Job gains have slowed from a monthly average of over 200,000 last year to 116,000 in the past three months, a slowdown punctuated by May’s disappointing 38,000 new jobs.
