US jobless claims steady in latest week
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week and the underlying trend remained consistent with a tightening labour market.
US workers filed 245,000 initial claims for state unemployment benefits during the week that ended Dec. 23, according to seasonally adjusted figures published by the Labor Department on Thursday. Data for the prior week was unrevised.
Since mid-October, claims have been confined to a range of 223,000 to 252,000.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims edging down to 240,000 in the latest week. Last week marked the 147th straight week that claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with a strong labour market. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labour market was smaller.
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