US jobless claims decline, signal labor market stability

Jobless claims in the US declined in the week ending June 13, indicating that the labor market remains stable, as layoffs continue to decrease.

The number of applications for unemployment benefits was expected to decline to 225,000 claims, compared with the previous week's data, which was revised upward by 1,000 claims to reach 230,000, according to the Labor Department report issued on Thursday.

Weekly unemployment benefit claims are considered an approximate indicator of layoff rates in the US and a near real-time indicator of the condition of the labor market.

These data come one day after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, and after the central bank's President Kevin Warsh stated that members of the monetary policy committee believe that the labor market is stable and that some of them see conditions moving toward improvement.