AlQa'dah 26, 1436, Sep 10, 2015, SPA -- The number of people filing initial applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell last week, the government reported Thursday, suggesting that slowing job growth in August was an aberration. The Labor Department said jobless claims fell 6,000 to 275,000 last week. It was the 27th consecutive week that claims remained below 300,000, a level associated with a strengthening labor market. It is the longest stretch of low jobless claims in 42 years. The four-week moving average of jobless claims—a less volatile measure that is considered a better gauge of labor-market trends—rose 500 to 275,750 last week. The economy added 173,000 jobs in August, a five-month low. But economists dismissed the slowdown from July's gain of 245,000 as a technical distortion. A report Wednesday showed job openings surged to a record high in July, indicating solid labor demand in the near term.
