India, July 31 -- First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher in the week ended July 26th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 218,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 217,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 224,000.
The smaller than expected uptick came after jobless claims edged down to their lowest level in over three months in the previous week.
"Initial claims have been noisy over the last few weeks due to seasonal factors," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. "Sorting through the noise, initial claims are consistent with a low pace of layoffs...