Today, the Labor Department released their weekly US Unemployment Insurance Claims Report for the week ending in June 16th, and the figures reveal the stagnation in the labor market.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits decreased slightly to a seasonally adjusted 387,000 from last week's 389,000. The government revised the former week's number up from a previously reported 386,000. Many economists had expected last week's claims to fall to 380,000, but the released figures show that such expectations were overly optimistic.
Data on the 4-week moving average proved similarly dispiriting. It reached a 2012 high at 386,250, an increase of 3,500 since the last report.