US weekly jobless claims fall to 197,000

…claims as consistent with a stable jobless rate. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in August, though the data showed more people who had lost their jobs were experiencing long bouts of joblessness. “ After having been stable over the last few months, if continuing claims remain at lower levels, this could mean an unemployment rate closer to 4% over the next few months ,” Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup told Reuters. "But we would caution that a lower unemployment rate because of a smaller labor force would not necessarily imply a retightening labor market." The American job…