Initial Jobless Claims rose by 6,000 in the latest week, as 227,000 people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time. While this number can be volatile from week to week, first-time filers have remained under 230,000 for the last three weeks after topping 260,000 in the first three weeks of June. This tamer level of Initial Claims shows that employers are still clearly trying to retain their workers.

Meanwhile, Continuing Claims rose by 21,000, with 1.7 million people still receiving benefits after filing their initial claim. While this latter metric is well above the low of 1.289 million seen last September, it has declined from the high of 1.861 million reported in early April, reflecting a mix of people finding new jobs and benefits expiring.