New data from the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday revealed a surprising decline in first-time claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending September 20th.
Initial jobless claims dropped to 218,000, down 14,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 232,000. Analysts had forecast a slight increase to 235,000 from the 231,000 initially reported for the prior week.
The less volatile four-week moving average also declined to 237,500, a decrease of 2,750 from the revised 240,250 recorded the week before.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported a notable rebound in U.S. durable goods orders for August, following two consecutive months of declines. Orders surged 2.9% last month after falling 2.7% in July, far surpassing economists’ expectations of a 0.5% drop.
Excluding transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose 0.4% in August, reversing July’s 1.0% gain. Economists had expected ex-transportation orders to remain flat.
In another boost to economic optimism, the Commerce Department revised second-quarter GDP growth upward, showing that the U.S. economy expanded 3.8%, compared with the previously reported 3.3% increase. Economists had anticipated no change to the prior estimate.
The stronger GDP reading was driven mainly by upward revisions to consumer spending. The bounce in the second quarter followed a 0.6% contraction in the first quarter, with the rebound supported by increased domestic demand and a decline in imports.
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