It was the 78th consecutive week that claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with a robust labor market. That is the longest stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much smaller. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 1,000, to 263,000, last week. Construction spending was flat in July, but declines in May and June were revised to show slight gains, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Overall construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.15 trillion in July, up a modest 1.5 percent from a year ago.

Source: Washington Post September 01, 2016 20:48 UTC