While the stock market rumbles and fears of a double dip recession loom, the Department of Labor offered a bit of good news on Thursday by reporting that new weekly unemployment claims dropped below 400,000 for the first time in months.
In the week ending August 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 395,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 402,000. The 4-week moving average was 405,000, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 408,250.
This is the first week under 400,000 since the last week of March.
