The economy continues full steam ahead, the Washington Examiner reports.
New applications for unemployment insurance benefits dropped 18,000 to 214,000 in the first week of July, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Forecasters had expected around 225,000 new jobless claims. Instead, they fell more than expected to the lowest since May, when claims were plumbing the lowest levels since the 1970s.
[Also read: Inflation edges up to 2.9 percent in June, highest in six years]
Low claims are a good sign. They suggest that layoffs are rare and that job creation is high.
The claims data for recent months show no signs that the unemployment rate, at a decades-low 3.8 percent, is heading back up. In fact, they indicate it has room to fall further.