Jobless claims in the US fell to 261,000, the cuts are scarce

The number of Americans who have filed claims for unemployment benefits last week fell by 1,000 to 261,000, and remained near lows after the recession, indicating that the labor market is healthy and less people lose their jobs.
Economists had forecast jobless claims to total 264,000 in the week from August 14 to August 20.
The average number of new claims for unemployment fell last month by 1250 to 264,000, said the Labor Department on Thursday. Less reluctant average value for four weeks is seen as a more accurate measure of trends in the labor market.
The number of people, filing for benefits in weekly basis, reached 27 year high of 665,000 at the end of the Great Recession in 2009, before starting their long descent. Benefits fell below the key level of 300,000 in early 2015 and stayed there for 77 consecutive weeks, the longest run since 1970.
Continuing jobless claims, meanwhile, fell by 30,000 to 2.15 million in the week, ended August 13. These clims have been reported with a lag of one week and they reflect people, who already are receiving unemployment checks.