Initial jobless claims fell by more than expected

REUTERS/Mark Blinch

Initial jobless claims fell by more than expected.

Claims, which count the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance for the first time in the past week, fell by 25,000 to 234,000.

Economists had forecast that they would fall to 250,000, after dipping to 258,000 the prior week.

The four-week moving average was 250,000, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised number.

Initial jobless claims are used as a real-time proxy for the pace of layoffs and the overall health of the labor market since people usually file for benefits soon after they lose their jobs.