US jobless claims rise to 238,000

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated clip in the week ended 29 June, according to the Department of Labor.

Initial jobless claims rose by 4,000 last week to a reading of 238,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 234,000 to remain near the ten-month high of 243,000 earlier in June.

Continuing claims surged by 26,000 to 1.85m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, rose by 2,250 to 238,500.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com