US jobless claims fall short of expectations

The US Department of Labor has announced claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending September 2.

As a result, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits across the country decreased by 22,000 from the previous week to 216,000. The expectation of the economists who participated in the Reuters poll was that jobless claims would reach 234,000.

According to the US Department of Labor statement, the number of claims, which had previously been announced at 228,000 in the week ending August 26, was revised to 229,000.

The four-week average of US jobless claims fell to 229,250 in the week ending Sept. 2. This means a decrease of 2,500 people compared to the previous week.

The total number of people receiving unemployment benefits in the US decreased to 1.67 million in the week ending August 26. This means a decrease of 100 thousand people compared to the previous week. (Reuters)