Applications for U.S. Jobless Benefits Decline to Four-Week Low
Filings for unemployment benefits in the U.S. decreased to a
four-week low, indicating a still-solid labor market approaching the new
year.
Jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 267,000 in the week ended
Dec. 19, a Labor Department report showed Thursday. The median forecast
in a Bloomberg survey called for 270,000. Applications are hovering
close to the 255,000 level reached in July, the lowest since the 1970s.
A
tighter labor market this year has put a premium on skilled and
experienced workers, encouraging employers to forgo reductions in staff.
Limited dismissals and steady hiring helped persuade Federal Reserve
policy makers last week to raise their benchmark interest rate for the
first time in almost 10 years.
“There
is no evidence that the pace of layoffs has budged, and more broadly,
labor market conditions remain robust,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist
at Amherst Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a
research note.
Estimates
in the Bloomberg survey for jobless claims ranged from 265,000 to
285,000. The number of applications in the previous week was revised to
272,000 from an initially reported 271,000.
No states were estimated last week and there was nothing unusual in the data, according to the Labor Department.
The
four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly
figure, increased to 272,500 from 270,750 in the prior week.
Continuing Claims
The
number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits declined by
47,000 in the week ended Dec. 12, the most since mid-September, to 2.2
million. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits
dropped to 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent. These data are reported with a
one-week lag.
Since the beginning of March, claims have held below
the 300,000 level that economists say is consistent with strength in
the labor market.
While economies overseas are struggling to
improve, domestic demand has been resilient and encouraged more
companies to put out help-wanted signs. Payroll gains are showing solid
momentum after the 260,000 average last year that was the best since
1999. Through November, this year’s monthly gains averaged 210,000, with
December data due Jan. 8.
The labor-market progress was among
factors convincing Fed officials to announce on Dec. 16 the first
increase in the benchmark interest rate since 2006. The central bankers
unanimously voted for a quarter-point rise, with their forecasts
signaling rate increases will amount to 1 percentage point in 2016
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