Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to 214,000 during the week ended July 7, down 18,000 from the 232,000 of the prior week, which was revised up by a marginal 1,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey looked for 225,000 claims. The four-week moving average of initial claims was 223,000, compared with 224,750 the week before.

In the week ending June 30, continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 1.739 million, down slightly from 1.742 million, which was revised from 1.739 million. The four-week moving average of claimants was 1.728 million, up modestly from 1.719 million in the June 23 week.

The insured rate of unemployment remained at its record low of 1.2% for a ninth consecutive week.

Insured rates of unemployment varied widely by state. During the week ended June 23, the lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.28%), Nebraska (0.46%), Indiana (0.47%), North Carolina and Utah (0.48%) and North Dakota (0.51%). The highest rates were in California (1.89%), Connecticut (1.95%), Pennsylvania (1.97%), New Jersey (2.04%) and Alaska (2.09%). These state data are not seasonally adjusted.

Data on weekly unemployment insurance are contained in Haver's WEEKLY database, and they are summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, carried in the AS1REPNA database.