Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week was flat, as uncertainty about the strength of the labor market lingers, official data showed on Thursday.
The number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 22 was flat at a seasonally adjusted 245,000 from the previous week’s total of 245,000, the Department of Labor said.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall to 240,000 last week.
The four-week moving average was 237,750, up 1,750 from the previous week. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Continuing jobless claims rose to 1.943 million from 1.936 million in the preceding week, which was revised up from 1.932 million.
After the report, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 92.39 compared to 92.40 prior.