Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell unexpectedly, remaining in territory consistent with a strengthening labor market, official data showed on Thursday.
The report underlined expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates two more times this year, with the next move higher coming at its September meeting.
The number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ended August 4 decreased by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 213,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 219,000, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 1,000 to 220,000 last week.
The four-week moving average was 214,250, down 500 from the previous week. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended July 28 rose to 1.755 million from 1.726 million in the preceding week, compared to expectations for an increase to 1.740 million.