The number of Americans filing first claims for jobless pay dropped by 4,000 last week, in a second straight weekly decline that appeared to reflect improving job prospects.
Initial jobless claims dipped to 333,000 from 337,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department reported today, contrary to Wall Street economists' expectations that they would rise to 338,000.
The department originally reported claims in the July 31st week totaled 336,000 but it revised that number up modestly.
The four-week moving average of claims, closely watched because it is considered likely to iron out weekly fluctuations in the numbers, also declined last week. It fell to 339,250 from 343,500 in the July 31st week.
The trend downward in both initial and average weekly claims implied a potential brightening in the job picture, an encouraging sign after last week's employment report that showed only 32,000 new jobs were created in July, far short of expectations.
The number of people who continued to collect unemployment benefits during the July 31st week - the latest week for which the data was available - was down by 5,000 from a week earlier to 2.9 million.