Financial News: U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up Slightly Less

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up Slightly Less Than Expected

01/08/2026 - 10:06:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged up by slightly less than expected in the week ended January 3rd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims crept up to 208,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 200,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 210,000 from the 199,000 originally reported for the previous week.

"Initial jobless claims are still subject to seasonal volatility, but looking through the noise, we see no signs that labor market conditions are worsening," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average slipped to 211,750, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week's revised average 219,000.

With the dip, the four-week moving average dropped to its lowest level since hitting 210,250 in the week ended April 27, 2024.

The Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment benefits, climbed by 56,000 to 1.914 million in the week ended December 27th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,892,750, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,871,750.

"Continued claims remain at a level consistent with a slow pace of hiring but are off their recent highs, suggesting that employers aren't pulling back further on hiring," said Vanden Houten.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of December.

Economists currently expect employment to increase by 60,000 jobs in December after climbing by 64,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent.

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