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 11 decreased by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 212,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised total of 214,000, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 1,000 to 215,000 last week.
The four-week moving average was 215,500, up 1,000 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 August 4 fell to 1.721 million from 1.760 million in the preceding week, compared to expectations for a decline to 1.750 million.