Washington, DC August 30, 2006--The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits edged down by 2,000 last week, the government said on Thursday in a report showing stability in the pace of layoffs.
The Labor Department said 316,000 unemployed workers filed initial claims for state unemployment aid in the week ended August 26, off from a revised 318,000 in the prior week.
Economists had expected claims to edge up to 315,000 from the 313,000 originally reported for the week ended August 19.
