The data from
the Labour Department showed on Thursday the number of applications for
unemployment decreased more than expected last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 5,000 to 227,000 for the week ended August 31. This marked the lowest weekly total in eight weeks.
Economists had expected
230,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week were revised upwardly to 232,000
from the original estimate of 231,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims dropped to 230,000 from an upwardly revised 231,750 (from 231,500) in the previous week.
This represented the lowest count in 12
weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they declined to 1,838,000,
compared to a downwardly revised 1,860,000
(from 1,868,000) in the previous week. This was
the lowest reading since mid-June. Economists had foreseen continuing jobless claims of 1,870,000.