WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims dropped 24,000 to 398,000, on a seasonally adjusted basis, in the week ended July 23, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was the lowest number since 385,000 initial claims were reported in the week ended April 2.
Continuing claims for the week ending July 16 dipped to 3.703 million. Economists expected 415,000 initial jobless claims and 3.700 million continuing claims.