Weekly unemployment claims fall unexpectedly to 227,000: US labour dept

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting an orderly labor market slowdown remained in place, though laid-off workers are finding it a bit difficult to land new jobs.

 

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 227,000 for the week ended Aug. 10, the Labour Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the latest week.

 

A jump in the unemployment rate to near a three-year high of 4.3 per cent in July stoked fears of a labor market deterioration, with financial markets betting that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates by 50 basis points next month. Layoffs, however, remain low by historic standards.

 

The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.864 million during the week ending Aug. 3, the claims report showed. The so-called continued claims are near levels last seen in late 2021, indicating that more people are experiencing longer bouts of unemployment.

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