Jobless Claims Drop 47,000 To 522,000 in July 11 Week

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits in the July 11 week fell 47,000 to 522,000, according to data released by the Labor Department yesterday.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected a drop to 575,000.

Initial claims for the July 4 week were revised up 3,000 to 569,000. The initial claims seasonally adjusted four-week average slid 22,500 to 584,500. In the July 4 week, continuing claims dropped 642,000 to 6.273 million, the largest weekly fall on record.

“This big drop is not necessarily an indication of what is going on economically, it is more of a response to the seasonal factor that we have,” a Labor analyst said.

He attributed the drop in both initial and continuing claims to the continued change in timing of expected layoffs from the manufacturing sector.

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