Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits were unexpectedly fewer in number last week, pointing to continued strong labour market conditions.
Figures issued Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department revealed that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 206,000 for the week ended July 20. Economists had expected initial claims to increase by 3,000 to 219,000.
Data on this score for the previous week were unrevised at 216,000.
The four-week moving average of initial claims — a ore accurate measure of labour market trends, because it irons out week-to-week volatility, dropped 5,750 to 213,000 last week
