Unemployment Claims Fall More Than Expected, Fueling Hopes of Labor Market Resilience

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, delivering a hopeful sign that the labor market is holding up despite a recent spate of data suggesting it may be cracking. Initial jobless claims, which are a high-frequency data point seen as a proxy for unemployment, fell by 17,000 to 233,000 for the week that ended on Aug. 3, according to data released on Aug. 8 by the Department of Labor. The reading was lower than the 240,000 market analysts expected and sent Wall Street stock futures higher. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent as of 8:30 a.m. New York time, those on the Nasdaq jumped 0.9 percent, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 0.4 percent....