US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fall sharply to lowest level since 1969

The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to their lowest level since 1969, according to US Labor Department data released on Thursday.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 22,000 to 187,000 in the week ending July 18. Markets had expected claims to rise to 211,000.

The previous week’s figure was revised upwards by 1,000 to 209,000.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly volatility, fell 7,250 to 207,500.

Continuing claims, which measure the number of people receiving unemployment benefits, fell by 2,000 to 1.796 million in the week ending July 11.

The insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.2%.

The US economy added 57,000 jobs in June, well below market expectations of 110,000.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in June from 4.3% in May.