US initial jobless claims impress again
US initial jobless claims increased by less than expected in the week ending 3 August, to 333,000 from an upwardly revised 328,000. Analysts had expected an increase to 336,000 (release).
However, continuing jobless claims in the week ending 27 July were higher than expected – at 3.018m rather than the 2.950m expected – and up from 2.951m the previous week.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending 20 July was 4,520,948, a decrease of 174,418 from the previous week. There were 5,750,327 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.