U.S. Unemployment Claims Stabilize at Highest Level

There was little change in the number of Americans applying for new unemployment benefits last week, remaining at its highest level in 20 months, marking the third consecutive week of elevated claims. This may signal early weakness in the labor market amid the Federal Reserve's strong credit tightening efforts. Data from the Labor Department released on Thursday showed that initial unemployment claims for the week ending June 17 were 264,000, adjusted for seasonal factors, unchanged from the previous week's upwardly revised reading, the highest since October 2021.