Initial unemployment claims down again in June

Initial claims for unemployment benefits again dropped in June as compared to June, 2013 — the 19th straight month of declines and 52nd decrease in the past 55 months.

Total initial claims — those filed by people who haven’t been receiving unemployment benefits and most likely just lost a job — totaled just 14,503.

But a spokesman for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said that is an increase of almost 2,000 over the number of claims in May.

Chief Economist Bill Anderson said initial claims are now virtually the same as they were before being pushed to unusually low levels during the housing boom of the mid-2000s.

Initial claims were then pushed to record highs during the recession that began in late 2007, reaching a peak of 36,414 in Dec., 2008.