By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week jumped by 18,000 to 354,000, putting initial claims back near the recent average and indicating little change in a modestly improving labor market. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims - a proxy for layoffs - to increase to a seasonally adjusted 340,000 in the week ended June 15. The average of new claims over the past month, a more reliable gauge than the volatile weekly number, rose by 2,500 to 348,250, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Also, the government said continuing claims fell by 40,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.95 million in the week ended June 8. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag and reflect the number of people already receiving benefits. Initial claims from two weeks ago, meanwhile, were revised up to 336,000 from an original reading of 334,000, based on more complete data collected at the state level.
