English
US unemployment claims fall to 218,000
US Labor Department data released Thursday showed weekly unemployment claims fell far below expectations, allaying some of the concerns about the weak labor market that prompted the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates recently.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending September 20 reached a seasonally adjusted 218,000, down 14,000 from the previous week's revised figure and well below the Dow Jones forecast of 235,000. Continuing claims were roughly unchanged at 1.926 million, down slightly by 2,000.
This data comes one week after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4% to 4.25%, its first cut in 2026, citing increased risks to the labor market.
Despite slowing employment growth and job openings falling to multi-year lows, unemployment benefit figures show that businesses remain reluctant to lay off employees, even with the marked decline in hiring.
The report noted local variations, with Texas recording the largest decline in unrevised claims, falling by about 7,000 for the week.
Separately, US GDP data for the second quarter was released, showing a robust 3.8% growth, following an upward revision of half a percentage point attributed by the Commerce Department to revised consumer spending data.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the $30 trillion US economy, rose 2.5%, compared to the previously estimated 1.6% and just 0.6% in the first quarter.
