US initial jobless claims nudge lower

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell pretty much in line with expectations last week, according to the Labour Department.

US initial jobless claims dropped by 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 267,000. The figure was revised down by 2,000.

Economists had been expecting a decline to 265,000.

This marked the 75th consecutive week claims were below 300,000 - the longest streak since 1973.

The four-week moving average of new claims was 262,750, up 3,000 from the previous week’s average, which was revised down by 500 to 259,750.

The four-week average is considered more reliable as it smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly figures, giving a more accurate picture of the health of the labour market