US Initial Jobless Claims Rise to 199,000, Stay Below 200,000 for Third Week

US initial jobless claims totaled 199,000 last week, for the period from July 26 to August 1. The figure remained below 200,000 for a third straight week.

The Labor Department said August 6 that new applications for unemployment benefits rose by 1,000 from the previous week.

The total was below the 204,000 forecast compiled by Dow Jones.

Initial claims fell to 189,000 in the July 12 to July 18 period and have stayed below the 200,000 mark for three consecutive weeks.

Continuing claims, which track people receiving benefits for more than two weeks, totaled 1.801 million in the July 19 to July 25 period. That was up 24,000 from a week earlier.

US weekly initial jobless claims have generally remained stable in a range of 200,000 to 250,000 since the pandemic.

The recent run of initial claims below the average of the past several years suggests the US labor market remains stable.

The labor market is seeing slower job growth while layoffs remain historically low, creating what has been described as a no-hire, no-fire environment.

Han Gyeong-u, Hankyung.com reporter case@hankyung.com