WASHINGTON — Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign the labor market may keep improving after employment picked up in July.
Jobless claims unexpectedly dropped by 6,000 to 361,000 in the week ended Aug. 4, Labor Department figures showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 43 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for an increase to 370,000. A spokesman for the agency said there was nothing unusual in the data.
Fewer firings mean employers are seeing enough demand to retain staff, indicating the world’s largest economy is sustaining the recovery from the recession. Labor Department data last week showed payrolls rose more than forecast in July.
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 359,000 to 385,000. The Labor Department revised the previous week’s figure up to 367,000 from an initially reported 365,000.
Meanwhile, inventories at U.S. wholesalers unexpectedly dropped in June as distributors suffered the biggest decrease in sales in three years.
The 0.2 percent decline in stockpiles, the biggest since September, followed no change in May, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in Washington. Sales plunged 1.4 percent, the most since March 2009.