Jobless claims continue to maintain a steady, downward trend, with unemployment filings for the week ended June 21 falling by 2,000 to 312,000, the U.S. Department of Labor said.  

This follows last week’s drop of 6,000 filings.

Also recording positive news, the 4-week average came in at 314,255, a 2,000 increase from the previous week’s revised average.

“The 4-week average, at 314,250, has been very steady the past month, holding in a tight range roughly between 310,000 and 315,000,” analysts with Econoday said. “This is the 18th straight decline for the 4-week average.”