U.S. initial jobless claims fall more than expected, suggests strong hiring

U.S. jobless claims fall in the survey week for August employment. For the week ended 12 August, the initial jobless claims fell 12k to 232k. This is a larger fall as compared with the consensus expectations of a fall to 240k. In spite of the fall, the four-week moving average in initial claims remained stable at 241k.

The week ended 12 August was the survey week for the August employment report and the data released today points to another month of strong hiring, noted Barclays in a research report. The level of initial jobless claims and the four-week moving average in initial claims in the July survey week were 234k and 244k, respectively. Thus, the data on initial jobless claims in the July survey week were 234k and 244k, respectively. Therefore, the data on initial jobless claims for the August survey week are usually unchanged from July readings and the trends in the separation side of the labor market continue to be favourable for the outlook for further growth in employment, stated Barclays.

Elsewhere, continuing claims dropped 3000 to 1953k in the week ended 5 August, while the insured jobless rate remained stable at 1.4 percent for the 18th straight week. State wise, over half of the reporting states and locations recorded a drop in initial claims, with the biggest declines seen in California, Kansas, Kentucky and South Carolina, which saw declines of 3674, 3028, 1607 and 1111, respectively. Meanwhile, the largest rises in jobless claims were recorded in Michigan and Minnesota, which saw a rise of 1628 and 557, respectively.

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