The data from
the Labour Department revealed on
Thursday that the number of applications for unemployment unexpectedly decreased last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 1,000 to 219,000 for the week that ended December 21. This was the lowest weekly total in four weeks.
Economists had predicted
224,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the
prior week were left unrevised at 220,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims increased to 226,500 from an unrevised 225,500 in the previous week. This represented the highest count since early November.
As for
continuing claims, they jumped to 1,910,000 from a downwardly revised
1,864,000 (from 1,874,000) in the previous week. This marked the highest
reading since late mid-November 2021. Economists
had forecast continuing jobless claims of 1,880,000.