Financial News: U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Fall To Lowest Level

U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Fall To Lowest Level Since 1969

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly decreased in the week ended July 18th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 187,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised level of 209,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 212,000 from the 208,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 182,000 in the week ended September 6, 1969.

"While seasonal factors may be impacting the headline number at the margins, the extremely low level of claims highlights a low layoff rate and the strength underlying the labor market," said Matthew Martin, Senior U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also declined to 207,500, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week's revised average of 214,750.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also edged down by 2,000 to 1.796 million in the week ended July 11th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also dipped to 1,805,250, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,809,250.

"The decent pace of nonfarm payroll gains amid weak labor-supply conditions should translate into lower continued claims in the weeks ahead," said Martin.

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