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June 9, 2017

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US post 50% decline in jobless claims

THE number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, unwinding half of the prior period’s jump and suggesting the labor market was tightening despite a recent slowdown in job growth.

Initial claims for state jobless benefits fell 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 245,000 for the week ended June 3, the Labor Department said yesterday.

Claims surged by 20,000 in the prior week, with California, Tennessee, Kansas, and Missouri accounting for the bulk of the increase. Some of that increase was related to school summer breaks in which bus drivers and cafeteria workers were left temporarily jobless.

Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market, for 118 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller. The labor market is near full employment, with the jobless rate at a 16-year low of 4.3 percent.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time applications for jobless benefits falling to 240,000 in the latest week.

Prices of US Treasuries were lower while US stock index futures were modestly higher after the data. The dollar was firmer against a basket of currencies.




 

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