US Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 208,000, Below Forecast

US initial jobless claims came in below market expectations last week.

The Labor Department said July 16 that initial jobless claims totaled 208,000 last week. That was 8,000 below economists’ forecast of 216,000 and down 8,000 from the prior week’s revised 216,000.

Continuing claims, which track people receiving unemployment benefits for a second consecutive week, stood at 1.805 million. That was 16,000 below the prior week’s revised 1.821 million and 15,000 lower than the market forecast of 1.82 million.

Initial jobless claims are a gauge of whether the US labor market is overheating. An increase in claims can signal that labor market conditions are cooling.