Despite hiring slowdown, US unemployment claims stay low

New claims for US unemployment insurance continued to fall last week despite signs that businesses have sharply cut back hiring, Labor Department data showed Thursday.

Initial jobless claims, a sign of the level of layoffs, dropped by 4,000 to 264,000 in the week ending June 4.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) was the fourth straight week that claims fell from a surge in late April-early May, and the 66th consecutive week of claims below 300,000, the longest stretch since 1973.

Claims have averaged 269,500 over the past four weeks, 8,250 lower than the year-ago average.

Analysts have been eyeing claims for signs of a pickup after the sharp slowdown in job creation in May.

At just 38,000 net new positions, the May level was the worst in nearly six years and barely one-quarter of what had been expected, sparking worries that a strong run of employment generation might be ending.