Initial Jobless Claims fell by 10,000 in the latest week, as 230,000 people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time. Initial Claims have remained relatively tame after topping 260,000 for the first three weeks of June, which suggests that employers are trying to retain their workers and firings have been muted.

Meanwhile, Continuing Claims declined by 9,000, with 1.7 million people still receiving benefits after filing their initial claim. This figure has been vacillating around this range for much of the summer after hitting a high of 1.861 million in early April. The trend lower reflects a mix of people finding new jobs and benefits expiring.

As noted above, employment data will play a big role in the Fed’s next rate hike decision, which will be announced at their meeting on September 20.