Weekly jobless claims hover around pandemic-era low; GDP revised up to 6.6%

Initial unemployment insurance claims have changed little over the past week, hovering around pandemic-era lows as the labor market shows further signs of healing.

Initial filings totaled 353,000 for the week ended Aug. 14, a slight increase from 349,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. This was slightly worse than the Dow Jones estimate of 350,000.

A separate economic reading showed gross domestic product rose at an annualized rate of 6.6% in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department’s second estimate Thursday. This was ahead of the original estimate of 6.5%, but a notch below the Dow Jones’ forecast of 6.7%.

Taken together, the reports show a growing economy during the pandemic, despite concerns over the sharp increase in cases of the delta variant of Covid-19.

Markets reacted little to the news, with equity futures pointing to a mostly flat open on Wall Street.

On the jobs front, weekly claims have held around the best levels they have seen since March 2020, although they are well above pre-pandemic levels and showing signs of flattening .

Continuing claims also showed little change, dropping from 3,000 from the previous week to 2.86 million, according to data that comes a week after the headline number. However, the four-week moving average fell from 108,500 to just over 2.9 million.

Maryland (3,618) and Illinois (3,515) posted the largest weekly gains, while Michigan posted a decline of 7,056, according to unadjusted data.

The total of those receiving benefits in all government programs rose to just over 12 million, according to data up to Aug. 7. A year ago, the total was almost 27.5 million.

In the GDP revision, the second reading for the pace of all goods and services produced increased from the original estimate due to an upward revision in non-residential fixed investment. Some reductions in previous estimates for private stocks and residential fixed investment, as well as a lower reading of state and local government spending, partially offset the higher number.

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