Claims for jobless benefits in the United States fall to the lowest level in two months

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(CNN) --

Weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level since late June as employers appear reluctant to shed workers in a tight job market.

232,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims in the week ending Aug. 27, a drop of 5,000 claims from the previous week's level, which was revised down by 6,000 claims, according to the Labor Department.

That is the lowest level since the week ending June 25, which reported 231,000 claims for the first time.

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This drop in orders for the first time also exceeds the expectations of economists, who had forecast that claims would rise, and comes after several weeks of unexpected declines.

The Labor Department said the number of continuing jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 20 rose by 26,000 to 1.44 million, the highest level since early April.

Despite fears of a recession and attempts by the Federal Reserve to slow down the labor market, employers don't appear to be rushing to hand out pink ballots.

Earlier this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job openings unexpectedly increased in July to 11.2 million.

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-- CNN's Matt Egan and Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.

Unemployment