Jobless claims fall sharply in week

WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance dropped sharply for the second consecutive week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.

The 522,000 first-time benefits claims was a decline of 47,000 from the previous week.

In the week ending July 4, initial claims dropped by 52,000.

The new four-week rolling average for claims filed is now 584,500, a drop of 22,500 from the previous rolling average of 607,000.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5 percent.

The biggest increases in claims for the week ending July 4 were reported by Michigan with 12,144 additional claims; New York, which added 8,913; and Wisconsin, which added 5,838, the report said.

State-by-state statistics lag a week behind the national report.

For the week ending July 4, the biggest decreases were reported by New Jersey with a decline of 5,030 claims; California, declining by 4,293; and North Carolina with 3,983 fewer claims than the week of June 27.