US jobless claims slid to 375,000 last week, suggesting rising COVID cases are having little effect on the recovery.- The reading matched the median economist estimate and marked a third straight decline.
- Continuing claims fell to 2.87 million, beating the consensus estimate of 2.9 million.
Fewer Americans filed for
US jobless claims totaled an unadjusted 375,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That matched the median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg and marked a third straight decline for weekly claims.
The previous week's count was revised to 387,000 from 385,000, according to the report.
Continuing claims, which track Americans receiving
Jobless claims have staged a less consistent recovery than continuing. Weekly counts hovered around 400,000 through late June and July after falling steadily through spring. Current levels are still roughly double those seen before the pandemic. Some experts believe elevated claims $4 due to increased awareness of the program.
The Thursday claims data is the first to follow July's encouraging nonfarm payrolls report. The US $4, beating the median estimate of 870,000 new jobs and marking the largest one-month increase since last August. June's gains were revised higher to 938,000 payrolls, and the
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