US jobless claims fall more than expected

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a slower-than-expected rate in the week ended 20 July, according to the Labor Department.

Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 235,000, below market expectations for a reading of 238,000 and down from the prior week's upwardly revised print of 245,000.

Although the decline was bigger than expected, last week's print was still significantly above the year-to-date average, hinting that although the US labour market remains tight, it has seemingly softened somewhat since its post-pandemic peak.

Continuing claims fell by 9,000 to 1.85m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, rose by just 250 to 235,500. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, claims fell by 55,502 to 225,090, with market contractions of 7,979 and 6,559 in New York and Michigan, respectively.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com