US weekly jobless claims point to "solid" pace of hiring in August, Barclays says
US jobless claims drifted lower last week, signaling a still robust pace of hiring in the economy.
Initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 18 August slipped by 2,000 to 210,000, whereas economists at Barclays had anticipated a rise of 3,000 to 215,000.
The four-week moving average for claims, which aims to smoothe-out the volatility in the data from one week to the next, retreated by 1,750 to 213,750.
Meanwhile, secondary unemployment claims, those which are not being filed for the first time and referencing the week ending on 11 August, dipped by 2,000 to hit 1.727m.
Commenting on Thursday's figures, Barclays Research's Michael Gapen said: "This week's report on initial claims overlaps with the survey week for the August employment report. Initial claims remain steady near recovery-level lows and [...] the level of initial claims and the four-week moving average, respectively, for the August survey week are broadly unchanged from their levels in July. The signal from the claims data remains one of low rates of job separation and points to another solid month of employment in August."