Slightly fewer Americans apply for jobless claims last week

MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, reflecting a still robust job market despite increasing layoffs in some sectors of the economy that have cooled in recent months. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending June 25 ticked down to 231,000, a decline of 2,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally represent the number of layoffs. The four-week average for claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 7,250 from the previous week, to 231,750. The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits has hovered near 50-year lows for months.