The number of initial claims for unemployment in the US fell by 47,000 to 5,22,000 for the week ended July 11, raising hopes that the country's labour market may be stabilising.
"In the week ending July 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 5,22,000, a decrease of 47,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 5,69,000," the Department of Labor said in a statement today.
The four-week average stood at 5,84,500, which down by 22,500 from the previous week's revised average of 6,07,000.
To cope with the raging financial crisis, more and more companies have slashed jobs as part of their measures to bring down costs. The unemployment rate in the world's largest economy touched a 26-year-high of 9.5 per cent in June.
Meanwhile, the count of people already receiving jobless benefits decreased to 62,73,000 for the week ended July 4.
"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 4 was 62,73,000, a decrease of 6,42,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 69,15,000," the statement said.