. initial jobless claims bounce back to 349,000 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Seasonal layoffs in autos and other manufacturing industries pushed seasonally adjusted U.S. initial jobless claims higher by 40,000 to 349,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Claims had fallen 40,000 to a revised 309,000 the prior week. Initial claims have been at 349,000 for three of the past four weeks. The volatility in the data is the result of the timing of seasonal layoffs for plant retoolings, a Labor Department spokesman explained. The four-week average of initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 3,250 to 339,000. Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving state benefits rose by 112,000 to 2.97 million in the week ending July 3, a six-week high. U.S. June producer price index falls 0.3% WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - U.S. wholesale prices fell 0.3 percent in June as food and energy prices retreated, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had expected a 0.2 percent gain in the producer price index. The core PPI - which excludes food and energy goods -- rose 0.2 percent, as expected. Energy prices at the wholesale level tumbled 1.6 percent in June after rising 1.6 percent in April and May. Food prices dropped 0.6 percent in June. Auto prices increased 1.1 percent for the second month in a row. Prices of intermediate goods destined for further processing rose 0.5 percent in June after a 1.1 percent increase in May. The core intermediate rate increased 0.5 percent in June, bringing the 12-month gain to 5.8 percent, the highest in nine years. Prices of crude goods rose 1.6 percent in June. Gruß MadX
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