WASHINGTON-The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell slightly last week, another sign of a firming labor market. However, renewed dollar strength will likely dampen underlying inflation in the coming months. Claims for the week ended July 30 were revised down to 267,000 from an initial estimate of 269,000. The streak of initial jobless claims below 300k now extends to 75 consecutive weeks, the longest since 1973.
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Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average edged up to 262,750, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 259,750.
The report showed that non-farm payroll employment surged up by 255,000 jobs in July after jumping by an upwardly revised 292,000 jobs in June.
Prices of U.S. Treasuries were largely unchanged by the data. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing last week’s claims data and no states had been estimated.
Economists had been expecting a decline to 265,000. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 1.6 percent.
Another report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed inflationary pressures remain minimal. We saw a read on Import and Export Prices this morning, as well.
Claims for unemployment benefits re used as a gauge of the prevalence of layoffs.
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The robust labor market is boosting consumer spending and putting a floor under the economy after an inventory correction and lower oil prices restricted GDP growth to an average 1.0 percent annualized rate in the last three quarters. At the same time, hiring has picked up: Employers added the most jobs in eight months in June and hiring was also healthy in July.
