This past week brought an unusual rise in weekly jobless claims, up 15,000 to 297,000. Bloomberg was calling for a reading of only 276,000. It is very possible that the July 4 holiday week had an impact here, though the Bureau of Labor Statistics specified in its usual statement that no special factors had an impact on the week’s initial claims.

The prior week’s report was also revised higher by 1,000, from 281,000 to 282,000 claims.

The four-week moving average was 279,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised higher by 250, from 274,750 to 275,000.

One reading we track closely is the continuing jobless claims. While this has a one-week lag, it is what we consider the army of the unemployed and it gives a better big picture of the jobs market. This figure increased by some 69,000 to 2.3 million.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending June 20 was 2,148,300, an increase of 758 from the previous week. There were 2,466,780 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2014. Also, no state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending June 20.

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The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 20 were as follows:

• Puerto Rico, 3.4
• Alaska, 2.6
• Pennsylvania, 2.5
• New Jersey, 2.4
• Connecticut, 2.3
• Nevada, 2.3
• California, 2.2
• West Virginia, 2.2
• Arkansas, 2.0
• Illinois, 2.0

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