Initial jobless claims declined in week

WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance declined during the week ending July 5, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.

The department said the 346,000 initial claims on the week was a decrease of 58,000 from the previous week's 404,000 initial claims. The four-week average decreased by 10,000 to 380,500, the report said.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.5 percent.

The report said the biggest increases in claims for the week ending June 28 were reported by Kentucky with 4,192 additional claims, Massachusetts with 3,467 and Indiana with 3,313.

The biggest decreases for the week were reported by Pennsylvania with a decline of 2,510 claims, Iowa, declining by 2,130, and Wisconsin with 2,129 fewer claims than the week of June 21.