US jobless claims little changed, near five-month high

APPLICATIONS for unemployment insurance in the US held close to a 5-month high last week, suggesting tightness in the labour market may be starting to ease.

Initial unemployment claims decreased by 2,000 to 229,000 in the week ended Jun 18, Labor Department data showed on Thursday (Jun 23). The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 226,000 applications.

Continuing claims for state benefits were also little changed at 1.32 million in the week ended Jun 11. BLOOMBERG