U.S. applications for unemployment benefits dropped to 187,000 in the week ending July 18, marking the lowest level in decades. The figure, reported by the Labor Department, significantly beat analysts' forecasts of 215,000 new applications.
Weekly jobless claims are widely considered a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market, serving as a proxy for layoff activity. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits has remained historically low, even amidst global economic uncertainty.
The four-week moving average of weekly jobless claims, which smooths out volatility, also decreased, falling by 7,250 to 207,500. For the preceding week, ending July 11, the total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits saw a reduction of 2,000, bringing the total to just under 1.8 million, a figure also considered healthy by historical standards.