The number of Americans filing jobless claims held steady for the week ending Aug. 25, with 374,000 unemployment applications filed across the country.
That number is unchanged from the previous week.
The Labor Department also noted the 4-week moving average for unemployment applications hit 370,250 claims, an increase of 1,500 applications from the previous week’s revised 4-week average of 368,750 applications.
Overall, analysts with Econoday viewed the report as unremarkable and reflective of an economy that continues to stall in job creation.
“There are no special factors skewing today’s report which points to another unspectacular round of monthly payroll data and no dramatic improvement for the unemployment rate,” the research firm concluded Thursday.
Paul Dales, senior U.S. Economist with Capital Economics, added, “[t]he news that initial jobless claims remained stable at 374,000 last week is broadly consistent with non-farm payroll employment continuing to rise at a rate close to the recent monthly average of 100,000.”
