US Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 187,000, Well Below Forecast

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

The Labor Department said on July 23 that initial jobless claims totaled 187,000 last week. That was 24,000 below economists' forecast of 211,000 and 22,000 fewer than the previous week's revised 209,000.

Continuing claims, which measure the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for two consecutive weeks, stood at 1.796 million. That was down 2,000 from the prior week's revised 1.798 million.

Initial jobless claims are a closely watched indicator of conditions in the US labor market. A rise in claims can be interpreted as a sign that an overheated job market is cooling.