Jobless claims fall for the third straight week, as benefits program ends next month

New claims for unemployment in the U.S. fell for the third straight week as the U.S. Labor Market published its Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims report.

The new applications for jobless benefits totaled 375,000 for the week ended August 7, the Labor Department said Thursday. The reading for the previous week was revised upward to 387,000 claims.

The 4-week moving average edged up to 396,250, increasing by 1,750 from the past week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 394,000 to 394,500.

Thursday’s report showed that the number of insured unemployment claims for the last week of July, fell to the lowest level since mid-March 2020, to 2.866 million.

A broader measure of continued unemployment, which includes pandemic-specific benefits and other programs, also declined week over week.

A separate Labor Department report released last week stated that employers added the largest increase in almost a year, to a seasonally adjusted 943,000 jobs in July.

June also witnessed the highest level of job openings since records began in 2000. amounting to 10.1 million, implying that more than the 9.5 million people were unemployed that month.

The government expanded the eligibility of unemployment benefits, and the payouts during the pandemic as businesses were forced to close due to public health restrictions.

With the national program set to expire next month, investors are keenly eying the state of the labor recovery. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve officials lookout for the labor recovery report to decide on whether to let inflation increase to bring back jobs lost during last year’s shutdowns.

Picture Credits: FT

Inputs from Department of Labor