US initial jobless claims fall by 13,000

(Sharecast News) - Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 13 December, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims fell by 13,000 week-on-week to a seasonally adjusted reading of 224,000, down from the prior week's upwardly revised reading of 237,000 and just below market forecasts of 225,000.

Continuing claims, on the other hand, rose to 1.89m from a downwardly revised 1.83m, though they were below forecasts of 1.93m, while the four week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, increased by 500 to 217,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate came in at 1.2% for the week ending 6 December, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.



Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com