The data from
the Labour Department showed on Wednesday that the number of applications for
unemployment remained unchanged last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits held steady at 213,000 for the week that
ended November 23.
Economists had predicted
216,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the
prior week were left unrevised at 213,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims decreased to 217,000 from an upwardly revised 218,250 (from 217,750) in the previous week. This marked the lowest count since early May.
As for continuing
claims, they fell to 1,907,000 from an unrevised 1,908,000 in the previous
week. Economists had forecast continuing jobless claims of 1,910,000.