US inital jobless claims drop by 26,000 as continuing claims rise
US initial jobless claims have dropped from 360,000 to 334,000 in the week to 13 July, a drop that exceeded what economists were expecting. Analysts had predicted a fall to 345,000.
Weird blip with the continuing jobless claims though, which were up from 3.0323m (revised from 2.977m) to 3.114m.
These jobs numbers have a special significance, because a marked improvement in the unemployment rate could see the Fed begin to taper quantitative easing – reducing the rate at which it expands the monetary base.