The number of Americans submitting applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined last week for the first time in a month, indicating ongoing labor market stability, according to new government data.
Initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 206,000 for the week ending August 15, the Department of Labor said in an Aug. 20 statement. The previous week’s reading was revised upward to 212,000. Economists had penciled in a reading of 210,000.
Despite spikes this year due to seasonal factors—extreme weather and summer school vacations, for example—the number of people claiming jobless benefits remains in the historically low range of 189,000 to 230,000. Initial claims for state jobless benefits dropped last month to the lowest level since September 1969….