US initial jobless claims decline by 12,000

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell 12,000 to 375,000 last week, according to Labor Department figures on Thursday.

Analysts had expected 375,000 claims for the week ending Aug. 7. The previous week's figure was revised up by 2,000 from 385,000 to 387,000.

The unemployment rate decreased to 5.4% in July from 5.9% in June, according to the agency’s latest figures.

Although the world's largest economy added 943,000 jobs in July, it still has 8.7 million unemployed workers as of last month.

More than 22 million people in the US lost jobs in March and April of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.