US jobless claims fall as expected

(Sharecast News) - US weekly jobless claims declined more or less as expected last week, according to statistics released Thursday by the Department of Labor. The number of people filing to receive unemployment insurance benefits for the first time totalled 239,000 in the week ended 12 August, compared with an upwardly revised 250,000 the week before (initial figure: 248,000).

Economists had pencilled in a reading of around 240,000.

The four-week moving average, a more reliable measure of long-term trends, rose to 234,250, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average.

In terms of continuing claims, which are reported with a one-week lag, they totalled 1.72m in the week to 5 August, up from 1.68m the previous week.