The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment declined more
than expected last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by
9,000 to 218,000 for the week ended February
3. This was the first drop in first-time unemployment claims in three weeks.
Economists had predicted
220,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 227,000 from the original estimate of 224,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims increased to 212,250 from an upwardly revised 208,500 (from
207,750) in the previous week. This marked the highest count since the week ended December 23, 2023 (212.500).
As for
continuing claims, they dropped to 1,871,000 from a downwardly revised 1,894,000
(from 1,898,000) in the previous week. Economists had foreseen continuing jobless claims of 1,878,000.