Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remained low despite a soft labor market.
In the week ended December 27, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States dropped by 16,000 to 199,000 from 215,000 the previous week. Labor Department reported Wednesday. Analysts polled by data firm FactSet forecast 208,000 new applications.
Due to the New Year’s Day holiday, the weekly report is released one day early.
Unemployment aid applications are seen as an indicator of layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
The four-week average number of initial jobless claims increased by 1,750 to 218,7500, offsetting some of the weekly fluctuations.
The government said the total number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the United States fell by 47,000 to 1.87 million in the week ended December 20.