The data from
the Labour Department announced
on Thursday the number of applications for unemployment fell more than predicted last week. .
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits declined by 17,000 to 222,000 for the week ended July 6. This represented the weakest weekly total since late
May. Economists had forecast
236,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 239,000 from the original estimate of 238,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims dropped to 233,500 from an upwardly unrevised 238,750 (from 238,500) in the previous
week. This was the first decrease in five weeks and marked the lowest count in three
weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they slipped to 1,852,000,
compared to a downwardly revised 1,856,000
(from 1,858,000) in the previous week. Economists had predicted continuing jobless claims of 1,860,000.