U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Edge Down To 262,000

(RTTNews) - After reporting a slight drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing another modest decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended August 13th.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 262,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 265,000.

Jobless claims remained below 300,000 for the 76th consecutive week, representing the longest streak since 1970.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 265,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 262,750.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 15,000 to 2.175 million in the week ended August 6th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also reached 2,155,000, an increase of 10,750 from the previous week's revised average of 2,144,250.