The number of jobless application in the United States for claiming the unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week, signaling toward a sustained strength of the country’s economy.
A Labor Department report, released on Wednesday, showed that the initial jobless claims for enjoying the state unemployment benefits fell 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 280,000 for the week that ended on December 20, marking the fourth consecutive week of declines.
According to the market analysts, this is the lowest reading recorded since November 1.
The claims report also suggested that the number of people still receiving the unemployment benefits following an initial week of aid increased 25,000 to 2.40 million in the week that ended on December 13.
The report was released by the Labor department a day after the government reported that the country’s economic growth expanded at its fastest pace in 11 years in the third quarter, while the consumer spending rose firmly in November.
Several economists had made a forecast that the jobless claims would tick up to 290,000 last week.
Meanwhile, the US stocks traded higher on the report and added to a five-day winning streak that had pushed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials to closing records.
The US Treasury debt yields increased to two-week highs. And the US dollar fell against a basket of currencies after gaining its highest level in about nine years earlier this week.
The four-week moving average of unemployment claims dropped 8,500 to 290,250 last week.
The number of jobless claims is considered to be a better measure and understand the trends of the country’s labor market.
Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank has given the economy a vote of confidence and lowered its forecast for unemployment rate, signaling it could commence raising interest rates by mid-2015.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.