The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment came in below economists’ projections
last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits slipped by 1,000 to 202,000 for the week ended January 6. This represented
the lowest weekly total since mid-October 2023.
Economists had foreseen
210,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 203,000 from the original estimate of 202,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims dropped to 207,750 from an upwardly revised 208,000 (from 207,750)
in the previous week. This marked the lowest count in 12 weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they declined to 1,834,000 from an upwardly revised 1,868,000
(from 1,855,000) in the previous week. This was the lowest reading since late
November 2023. Economists had predicted continuing jobless claims of 1,871,000.