US unemployment claims data are encouraging

According to the US Department of Labor, the number of Americans who filed initial applications for unemployment benefits fell to 1.186 million last week after rising in the previous two weeks. Economists had forecast a smaller decline to $ 1.415 million.

The number of secondary applications from those who continue to receive benefits dropped to 16.107 million, down from the previous week by 1.951 million.

On Friday, investors await a more complete report on nonfarm payrolls. The report is predicted to show that an additional 1.6 million jobs were created in the labor market last month, or hiring fell sharply from a record 4.8 million in June.