There were 343,000 first-time claims filed for unemployment insurance last week, the Employment and Training Administration says. That was up from an estimated 336,000 the week before.
The increase is from what had been a 10-week low. But basically, claims have been ranging between the mid-330,000s and mid-370,000s all year. Like other employment indicators, the jobless claims figures have been signalling that job growth remains modest.
The data have also been skewed a bit in recent weeks, Bloomberg News says, by "annual auto-plant shutdowns."
Meanwhile, there's brighter news from the Census Bureau:
"New orders for manufactured durable goods in June increased $9.9 billion or 4.2 percent to $244.5 billion. ... Transportation equipment, also up four of the last five months, led the increase, $9.9 billion or 12.8 percent to $87.1 billion. This was led by nondefense aircraft and parts, which increased $6.5 billion."
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