The number of US workers seeking first-time jobless aid fell by 10,000 last week, a government report today showed.
The Labor Department said the number of initial jobless claims declined to 312,000 in the week ended August 12th from a revised 322,000 in the prior week. That was moderately lower than the 315,000 claims that analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll.
Previously, the department said there had been 319,000 claims in the prior week ended August 5th, but it revised that figure upward.
Since early June, new claims have been fluctuating in a narrow range from 297,000 to 322,000. The claims total rose upward briefly in early July during the automobile industry's annual summer shutdown but has settled back into its earlier range.
The jobless claims figures were close enough to expectations that financial markets were unmoved by the data.
The four-week moving average of initial jobless claims, considered a more reliable barometer of employment conditions because it irons out weekly fluctuations, rose to 311,250 in the August 12th week from a revised 309,500.
The number of workers remaining on state unemployment benefits for the week ended August 5th, the latest period such figures were available, hit 2,507,000 - up from 2,473,000 in the preceding week.