Jobless Claims Barely Changed Last Week; Remain High

By Mark Memmott

Published June 30, 2011 at 8:45 AM EDT

There were 428,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, a decrease of just 1,000 from the previous week, the Employment and Training Administration just reported.

Though down from the peak of more than 650,000 a week during the official recession that stretched from late 2007 to mid-2009, weekly claims remain above the 350,000-or-less level that's generally associated with a healthy economy.

Bloomberg News writes of this morning's report that "more Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, indicating little progress in the labor market."

Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

See stories by Mark Memmott