US weekly jobless claims post significant fall, miss forecasts

US unemployment benefits applications fell significantly last week, missing estimates.

Initial jobless claims decreased by 26,000 to 239,000 in the week ended June 24, according to the Labor Department’s Thursday report.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 265,000 claims for the latest week.

The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly fluctuations, rose by 1,500 to 257,500, the highest level since Nov. 13, 2021.