The number of applications for unemployment benefits in the United States fell worse than expected

According to the US Department of Labor, the number of initial jobless claims for the week ended July 24 fell by 24 thousand from the revised figure of the previous week to 400 thousand. This decrease signals that the labor market continues to improve, even despite the fact that the delta variant of Covid-19 is rampant in the country, and the population of the country is in constant hesitation over vaccines.

Nevertheless, the indicator fell short of the forecast. Analysts had expected a decline of 39 thousand to 380 thousand applications. The indicator for the week ended July 17 was revised to 424 thousand from 419 thousand. Experts explained this jump by the difficulties of excluding seasonal fluctuations from the data.

Moreover, in early July, a number of car factories were closed for technical re-equipment, which caused a temporary increase in layoffs, which then ceased in the second half of July.