Investing.com – The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more-than-expected, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 31 fell by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000, beating expectations for a decline of 12,000 to 375,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 387,000 from 381,000.
Jobless claims have fallen below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in eight of the past nine weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended December 23 fell to 3.595 million, disappointing expectations for a decline to 3.573 million. Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.617 million from 3.601 million.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks decreased by 3,250 to 373,250. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained higher against the euro, with EUR/USD dropping 0.86% to trade at 1.2830.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures trimmed losses after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a decline of 0.15%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a decrease of 0.25%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.1%.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 31 fell by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000, beating expectations for a decline of 12,000 to 375,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 387,000 from 381,000.
Jobless claims have fallen below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in eight of the past nine weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended December 23 fell to 3.595 million, disappointing expectations for a decline to 3.573 million. Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.617 million from 3.601 million.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks decreased by 3,250 to 373,250. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained higher against the euro, with EUR/USD dropping 0.86% to trade at 1.2830.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures trimmed losses after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a decline of 0.15%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a decrease of 0.25%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.1%.