First-time applications for unemployment benefits edged down to a level that reflects a slowly improving job market. Initial claims dropped by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 400,000, the lowest level in four months, from the previous week's figure that was revised upward from 398,000 to 401,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
The report comes a day ahead of the government's monthly data for July. Economists are forecasting the addition of about 90,000 jobs last month, still below what's needed to lower the 9.2 percent unemployment rate. Job creation needs to hit at least 125,000 a month to lower the jobless rate.
The economy had an anemic showing in June, adding only 18,000 jobs, the smallest amount in nine months.
The four-week average, a less volatile figure than the weekly number, fell to 407,750, the fifth straight drop, signaling what could be a positive trend in the job market.
Applications have been at or above 400,000 for 17 weeks; economists say they need to remain consistently below that level to signal healthy job creation.
Applications fell to 375,000 in February, staying below 400,000 for two months before hitting an eight-month high of 478,000 in April.
They have declined slowly since then but have remained persistently high as the economic expansion slowed through the spring and into the summer.
In the second quarter — April through June — the economy grew at an only 1.3 percent annual rate, as economic growth dropped to less than 1 percent for the first six months of the year, the weakest showing since the recession ended in June 2009.
Manufacturers, which have led the recovery, expanded in July, but at their slowest pace in two years. The Institute for Supply Management reported a similar result on Wednesday in the service sector as expansion among retailers and restaurants hit a 17-month low.
Economists say these figures are in line with the economy's slowing expansion and are expecting growth to accelerate through the second half of the year as temporary factors such as high gas prices fade.
While companies aren't hiring, consumers are being cautious with their money, spending less for the first time in 20 months. Consumer spending rose only 0.1 percent in the second quarter and households tucked away more savings.
