Seasonally adjusted initial claims on U.S. unemployment benefits was 209,000 in the week ended Aug. 17, down from last week's revised level of 221,000, data from the U.S. Labor Department showed.
The reading came below the Econoday consensus estimate of 216,000.
The four-week moving average rose by 500 to 214,500 from the prior week's revised average of 214,000.
The seasonally adjusted insured employment rate, which determines the share of the labor force receiving unemployment benefits, was unchanged at 1.2% for the week ending Aug. 10.
Insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 10 eased to 1,674,000 from the prior week's revised total of 1,728,000.
