Initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped
Claims, which count the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance for the first time, fell by 4,000 to 232,000.
Economists forecast claims rose by 4,000 to 240,000 from the prior week’s 236,000.
Initial jobless claims are used as a real-time proxy for the pace of layoffs since people usually file for benefits soon after they lose their jobs.
The four-week moving average came in at 240,750, a drop of 2,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 243,500.