The Labor Department said Thursday that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 428,000 in the week ending June 25.

Japan's auto production dropped 30.9 percent in May from a year earlier, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday.

Ireland's building and construction production fell by 11.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011. Building and construction also saw a significant decline of 23 percent compared with the first quarter of 2010.