Financial News: U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Dip To Seven-Month

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Dip To Seven-Month Low

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday showed an unexpected dip by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 22nd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 216,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 222,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 220,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected dip, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting a matching number in the week ended April 12th.

"We are watching initial jobless claims data closely for signs that recent layoff announcements are translating into significant job losses, but the evidence isn't there yet," said Matthew Martin, Senior US Economist at Oxford Economics.

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 223,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 224,750.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 7,000 to 1.960 million in the week ended November 15th.

The previous week's level of continuing claims was downwardly revised by 21,000 to 1.953 million from the 1.974 million originally reported.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims crept up to 1,955,750, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,955,000.

"Continued claims rose in the week ended November 15 and pushed the 4-week moving average to its highest level in nearly 4 years," said Martin. "Elevated continued claims highlight the weak hiring rate that characterizes the current labor market."

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