Initial claims for unemployment insurance stateside were little changed over the past week, hovering around coronavirus pandemic-era lows as the jobs market shows further signs of healing.
Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department showed first-time filings totaled 353,000 for the week ended Aug. 21, a slight increase from the previous week’s 349,000. That was slightly worse than the 350,000 Dow Jones estimate.
A separate economic reading showed that gross domestic product increased at a 6.6% annualized pace in the second quarter, according to the second estimate Thursday from the Commerce Department. That was ahead of the 6.5% initial estimate but a notch below the 6.7% Dow Jones forecast.
Taken together, the reports show an economy growing through the pandemic, despite concerns over sharply rising cases of the Covid-19 delta variant.