Data from the US Department of Labor revealed that the number of applications submitted for unemployment benefits increased by 12,000 applications during the week ending December 23, to 218,000 applications.
Expectations indicated an increase in these requests to 215 thousand requests, and last week’s reading was revised to increase by one thousand requests to 206 thousand requests.
On the other hand, the average number of unemployment claims in the past four weeks decreased to the lowest since late October, by 250 applications to reach 212 thousand applications, from the previous week’s upwardly revised average to 212.25 thousand applications.
The United States economy added more new jobs last November than expected.
Data from the US Department of Labor showed that the largest economy in the world added 199,000 jobs in the private sector last November, more than expectations of 180,000 jobs.
The US economy also added jobs in the private non-farm sector by 150,000 jobs in November, but slightly less than expectations of 153,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate in the United States declined last November to 3.7 percent, compared to expectations that the rate would remain unchanged from its level in October at 3.9 percent.
#unemployment #claims #rise #expectations