After reporting a slight drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing another modest decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended August 13th.
The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 262,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 265,000.
Jobless claims remained below 300,000 for the 76th consecutive week, representing the longest streak since 1970.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 265,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 262,750.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 15,000 to 2.175 million in the week ended August 6th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also reached 2,155,000, an increase of 10,750 from the previous week's revised average of 2,144,250.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Forex News
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.