Data released on Thursday showed weekly jobless claims fell to a two-month low ahead of Friday's closely watched employment report.
The Labor Department said Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 31 came in at 227,000, roughly in line with expectations of between 225,000 and 230,000, the lowest level since early July.
According to the Labor Department, the largest increases in initial unemployment claims in the week ending Aug. 24 came in New York, Michigan, Georgia, North Dakota and Massachusetts.
Attention has been focused on the level of employment in the economy following the July employment report, which showed the unemployment rate rising to 4.3% from 4.1% and employment levels remaining sluggish.
The unemployment rate has been gradually rising since last April as the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates. The August jobs report is due to be released on Friday.
In a separate jobs indicator released Thursday, the ADP Private Employment Survey came in much weaker than expected and signaled increasingly stressful working conditions.
The ADP survey showed payrolls rose by 99,000 in August, well above expectations for a rise of 145,000.The ADP survey has surprised economists several times in the post-pandemic period because of problems with consistency with official data.
The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates at its next meeting later this month to encourage investment, which could ultimately lead to more jobs in the economy. But for now, markets are bracing to see how last year's high interest rates will impact employment and the broader economic situation.
