The number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 229,000 in the week ended Aug. 23, the U.S. Department of Labor said. The reading was 5,000 lower than the revised 234,000 total for the previous week and slightly below the market consensus of 230,000, suggesting modest improvement in labor-market conditions. The report also showed continuing claims, which track the total number of people already receiving unemployment assistance, declined by 7,000 to 1.954 million in the week ended Aug. 16. Economists had expected 1.966 million. Both figures point to a labor market that remains relatively resilient even as headline employment growth has slowed.