In the week ending August 6, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 1,000 from the previous week to 266,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile gauge that helps even out short-run swings in the data, rose 3,000 to 262,750. Jobless claims reached a four-decade low in April and have remained below 300,000 for 75 straight weeks, the longest such streak since 1970.
