At 375,000, US initial unemployment claims drop for third week in a row

Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits dropped for the third week in a row, another incremental advance in the labor market’s recovery.
 

Initial unemployment claims in regular state programs totaled 375,000 in the period ended Aug. 7, in line with estimates from a Bloomberg survey of economists. That’s down 12,000 from the prior week, Labor Department data showed Thursday.

Continuing claims for state benefits fell to 2.9 million in the week ended July 31.

Jobless claims have been largely falling this year as a pickup in economic activity strengthens business conditions and leads to a record number of