US jobless claims retreat to 8-week low

Initial claims for US unemployment benefits contracted by 5,000 to 277,000 applications in the week ended Aug. 31.

This came contrary to expectations for a decline to 225,000 claims from the previous week's reading, which was revised up by 1,000 to 232,000 applications.

Likewise, the four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out weekly fluctuations, dropped 1,750 to 230,000 applications, versus last week’s revised-upward average of 231,750.

However, this data is not on par with the monthly Challenger Report, which was released earlier today, Sept. 5. It showed that the number of layoffs by US companies rose 193% on a monthly basis to 75,891 employees in August, given the elevated operating expenses and fears of a slowing economy.