⁍ Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 249,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.186 million for the week ended Aug. 1.

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⁍ That was the lowest since mid-March.

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⁍ Claims remain well above the peak of 695,000 during the 2007-2009 Great Recession.

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– The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 249,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 1.186 million, the Labor Department said today. Economists had expected the number to hold steady at 1.415 million, Reuters reports. The four-week average, however, fell to 1.16 million, the lowest since mid-March. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits, however, rose by 492,816 to 16.107 million in the week ending July 25, the department says. That’s above the 16.951 million reported in the prior week. Some economists say the expiration of a $600 weekly unemployment benefits supplement last week may have discouraged furloughed and unemployed workers from applying, the Wall Street Journal reports. The number of job cuts announced by employers jumped 54% in July, the most since February, the Labor Department says. “Repeated shutdowns for virus containment remain a threat to the labor market, which is already weak,” one economist says. “Without effective virus containment the recovery remains at risk from ongoing job losses that could further restrain incomes and spending.”