US Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to 203,000, Below Forecast

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

The Labor Department said on August 27 that initial jobless claims totaled 203,000 last week. That was 5,000 below economists' forecast of 208,000 and down 4,000 from the prior week's revised 207,000.

Continuing claims, which measure the number of people receiving benefits for a second consecutive week, stood at 1.778 million. That was down 18,000 from the prior week's revised 1.796 million and 12,000 below the market forecast of 1.79 million.

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