In a report released Thursday, the Labor Department indicated a significant decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ending July 6. Initial jobless claims dropped to 222,000, marking a reduction of 17,000 from the prior week's revised figure of 239,000.
This decline surpassed economists' forecasts, who had predicted a slight reduction to 236,000 from the initially reported 238,000 for the preceding week.
Additionally, the Labor Department highlighted that the less volatile four-week moving average also saw a decrease. It fell to 233,500, down by 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 238,750.
