In the week ending August 20, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 1,000 from the previous week to 261,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile gauge that helps even out short-run swings in the data, fell 1,250 to 264,000. Jobless claims fell below 300,000 in early 2015 and have remained there for 77 straight weeks, the longest such streak since 1970.
