US jobless claims fall to 298,000

WASHINGTON (Xinhua) - Fewer Americans applied for unemployment aid last week, echoing an improving US job market, as indicated in a report released Thursday by the US Labor Department.

The report showed that in the week ending Aug. 16, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits fell to 298,000, some 14,000 less than the revised level of the previous week.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, edged up by 4,750 to 300,750 last week. The advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 9 decreased 49,000 from the previous week to 2,500,000.

In the eyes of economists, initial claims for jobless benefits reflect the latest firings in a week. A decrease or keeping at a low level is a good signal for job market.  

According to the minutes of the Federal Reserve' s July meeting released on Wednesday, participants generally agreed that the US labor market conditions had moved noticeably closer to those viewed as normal in the longer run.

The Labor Department said earlier this month that the nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in July, the sixth consecutive month with job gains above 200,000. The unemployment rate was little changed at 6.2 percent, indicating that the job market was improving.