Unemployment claims in New Hampshire have been slowly creeping up over the last few months, though numbers released Thursday morning showed a little dip.

Some 2,262 people filed continuing claims on the week ending July 23, according to preliminary figures. That’s 159 less than the revised 2,421 the previous week, but that number is nearly 800 more than the 1,644 at the end of May. Indeed, the numbers had been going up every week ever since then.

The initial claims — representing lay-offs — still remain low, and have been going up and down during the same time. The latest preliminary numbers show 225, down from 299 the week before. That number was at 211 at the end of May, but had jumped to 768 at the end of June.

So, it doesn’t look like a steady increase in layoffs, but perhaps it isn’t as easy to find work as it once was.

Nationally, initial claims were at 260,000, an increase of more than 6,000 from the previous week.

— BOB SANDERS