New weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level since March 2020, closing back in on pre-pandemic levels as the rate of new joblessness slowed further.
The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the report, compared to consensus data compiled by Bloomberg:
Initial jobless claims, week ended July 10:360,000 vs. 350,000 expected and 373,000 during prior week
Continuing claims, week ended July 3:3.241 million vs. 3.300 million expected and 3.339 million during prior week
Initial unemployment claims extended a months-long downward trend and came in below the psychologically important 400,000 level for a third straight week. During the comparable week in mid-July last year, new filings totaled 1.5 million.
Markets reacted little to the claims news, with stock market futures pointing lower and government bond yields edging down following the release.