Initial jobless claims fell to 400,000 for the week ending July 30 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Continuing claims for the week ending July 23 rose to 3.730 million
Economists expected 405,000 initial jobless claims and 3.700 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the July 23 week were revised to 401,000. Continuing claims figure for the previous week were revised to 3.720 million.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile figure, was 407,750, down from a revised 414,500. The four- week average for continuing claims in the July 23 week was 3.730 million, up a tick from a revised 3.725 million. The Federal Aviation Administration shutdown and layoffs did not occur soon enough to be included in this week’s initial claims report, but are likely to show up next week according to a Labor Department official
Forty-eight states had a decline in unadjusted claims, while five — including U.S. territories — had an increase in reported claims.
This time of year frequently presents some difficulty for seasonal adjustments because of the unpredictable timing of factory shutdowns, but the Labor official said seasonal adjustment had virtually no impact on this report.
Nomura economists said before the report that “we have now moved beyond the auto retooling period and the Minnesota government layoffs have been absorbed, so we expect lower claims data in coming weeks.”
