The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment fell more than anticipated last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits decreased by 10,000 to 235,000 for the week ended July 20.
Economists had foreseen
238,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 245,000 from the original estimate of 243,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims increased to 235,500 from
an upwardly unrevised 235,250 (from 234,750) in the previous week. This represented
the highest count in three weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they dropped to 1,851,000,
compared to a downwardly revised 1,860,000
(from 1,867,000) in the previous week. Economists had forecast continuing jobless claims of 1,860,000.