CNBC: “The ranks of those submitting jobless claims tumbled to their lowest level in more than 52 years last week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. New filings totaled 199,000, a number not seen since Nov. 15, 1969, when claims totaled 197,000. The report easily beat Dow Jones estimates of 260,000 and was well below the previous week’s 270,000.
“The Labor Department did not indicate any special factors that caused the stunning fall, which could provide an important signal about a jobs market that has been struggling to come back since the Covid-19 shock in March 2020. The decline appeared at least in part to be due to seasonal adjustments. Unadjusted claims totaled 258,622, which actually was an increase of 7.6% from the previous week.
“In other economic reports Wednesday morning, second-quarter GDP growth was revised up slightly to 2.1%, though that was below estimates for 2.2%. Also, durable goods orders declined 0.5%, worse than expectations of a 0.2% gain.”