U.S. Jobless Claims Dip Slightly

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dipped slightly last week as layoffs in the U.S. remain historically low. U.S. applications for jobless aid in the week ending July 4 ticked down by 2,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 220,000 new applications. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market. The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending June 27 rose by 8,000 by to 1.81 million, also historically low.