Continuing claims, on the other hand, rose by 2,000 to 1.81m, while the four week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, decreased by 2,500 to 222,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ended 20 June, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com