U.S. initial claims for unemployment benefits decreased by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 240,000 for the week ended July 29, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This compared to the previous week's figure of 245,000, which was revised upward by 1,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average was 241,750, 2,500 lower than previous week's 244,250 average, which was revised upward by 250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.4% for the week that ended July 22. The advance number for insured unemployment increased by 3,000 to 1,968,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1,965,000.