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.
