The number of U.S. workers filing applications for jobless benefits rose last week, continuing an uneven pattern that suggests job creation was likely modest in July.
Separately, factory orders unexpectedly fell in June, the latest sign that the slowing economy is sapping demand.
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Initial jobless claims, an indication of layoffs, increased by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000 in the week ended July 28, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast 370,000 new applications for jobless benefits last week.
Claims for the July 21 week were revised up to 357,000 from an initially reported 353,000.
Underemployment
While the unemployment rate moves headlines every month -- the latest, for July, comes out Friday -- the "underemployment" rate, or "U-6" rate, includes everyone else affected by the moribund job market. See which states have worst underemployment.Still the four-week moving average of claims, which covers nearly all of July, fell by 2,750 to 365,500, the lowest level since March. The moving average is considered a more-reliable measure because it smoothes out weekly data.
A Labor Department official said claims are volatile in July due to temporary layoffs in the automotive industry.
The numbers come a day ahead of July's payroll report. Typically job creation increases when layoffs decline.
Economists expect that the economy added 95,000 jobs in July, which would be a slight improvement from the 80,000 added in June. They see the unemployment rate stuck at 8.2%.
Policy makers at the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the economy has decelerated and growth in employment has been slow in recent months.
The central bank's leaders took no new action following this week's meeting, but said they will "monitor incoming information...and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions.
A separate report Wednesday offered some hope of improvement. Payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers reported a 163,000 gain in U.S. private-sector jobs last month.
The gain was far above expectations, but the report, which doesn't track public-sector jobs, is not always an accurate predictor of the government's payroll figures.
Thursday's Labor data showed the number of continuing unemployment benefit claims--those drawn by workers for more than a week--decreased by 19,000 to 3,272,000 in the week ended July 21. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.
The number of workers requesting unemployment insurance, also reported with a lag, was equivalent to 2.6% of employed workers paying into the system in the week ended July 21, the same as the prior week.
Orders for manufactured goods decreased 0.5% to $465.81 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 0.5% gain in factory goods in June.
Factory orders have declined during three out of the past four months, with May's increase revised down to 0.5% from an initial estimate of 0.7%.
Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft-considered yardstick for capital spending by businesses--decreased 1.7% in June. That followed a 2.3% gain in May.
Other recent indicators have suggested that manufacturing is stalling after acting as a growth engine for much of the recovery. Earlier this week, the Institute for Supply Management's July purchasing managers index showed a continued contraction. The index improved slightly to 49.8 last month, but remained at levels not seen in three years. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity.
A drop-off in consumer demand for durable goods--items such as cars and home appliances meant to last at least three years--weighed on the economy in the second quarter. The economy slowed to a 1.5% growth rate in the April-to-June period, from 2.0% in the first quarter, according to Commerce's first estimate of gross domestic product last week.
Thursday's report showed weakening demand across a broad range of categories in June, including machinery, construction materials and computers.
Overall durable goods rose by a revised 1.3% in June. Last week, Commerce had estimated a 1.6% rise in June durables. May durable goods orders were revised down slightly, as well, to a 1.5% gain.
Aircraft orders were a key driver behind the rise in durable goods. Transportation-related orders increased 8.0% in June, despite a 0.7% decline in motor vehicles and parts.
Excluding the often volatile transportation sector, new orders were down 1.8%, the biggest drop since March 2009.
Non-durable goods orders also posted the steepest decline since that period, falling 2.0%. That drop, which followed a 0.4% decrease in May, was largely driven by a fall in petroleum refinery production.
Consumer-goods orders fell 1.9%, with consumer durable goods orders falling 0.7% and non-durables down 2.2%.
Defense capital-goods orders surged 62.9%. But excluding defense orders, overall factory orders were down 1.5%, after rising 0.2% in May.
Overall capital goods orders rose 6.6%.
The report showed June factory shipments decreased 1.1%. Unfilled orders, a sign of future demand, were 0.3% higher. Inventories edged up 0.1%.
—Tom Barkley and Eric Morath contributed to this article.
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