AI Summary
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week as expected, signaling unchanged layoff levels and resilience in the labor market of the world’s largest economy.
Labor Department data released today, Dec. 18, showed jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 224,000 applications in the week ended Dec. 13, matching expectations, compared with the previous week’s revised figure of 237,000.
The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market performance, rose by 500 to 217,500 applications, from the previous week’s average.
The data suggest little change in labor market conditions, as employers remain cautious about hiring while refraining from large-scale layoffs.
|
Weekly US Jobless Claims |
||||
|
Item |
Last Year |
Last Week |
Current Week |
Change |
|
Initial Claims (‘000) |
222.0 |
237.0 |
224.0 |
(13) |
|
Four-Week Average (‘000) |
225.5 |
217.00 |
217.5 |
0.5 |
|
Total Beneficiaries (mln) |
1.862 |
1.830 |
1.897 |
+0.067 |
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