New unemployment claims in U.S. decline for 3rd straight week

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The number of new U.S. workers filing for unemployment has declined for the third straight week, the Labor Department said Thursday in its weekly report.

The department said 375,000 workers filed initial claims last week, a figure that's right in line with what most analysts expected.

The weekly figures have been hovering around 400,000 for several weeks. In mid-July, the figure returned above the 400,000 mark but the weeks since have been below that level.

The department also said Thursday that there were 2.86 million continuing claims, which lag initial claims by a week. That number is the lowest of any report since March 2020.

Thursday's report also revised up last week's new filings by 2,000 claims.

For last week, Illinois, New Jersey and California saw the highest unemployment rates -- while Indiana, Georgia and Rhode Island saw the greatest increase in filings.

The report is the first since the department released its July jobs report last week, which showed close to 1 million new positions for the month.