U.S. Jobless Claims Fell Last Week -- Update
December 14 2017 - 9:44AM
Dow Jones News
By Eric Morath
WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans filing new applications
for unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign the tight labor
market is making firms reluctant to dismiss workers.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S.,
decreased by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 in the week
ended Dec. 9, the Labor Department said Thursday. Last week's
claims were the second-lowest reading since 1973, just above
223,000 claims in the Oct. 14 week this year.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected
235,000 new claims last week.
Weekly jobless claims data on jobless claims tends to be
volatile, especially in December and January, when not seasonally
adjusted layoffs typically reach their peak due to year-end
departures and the scaling back of seasonal staff.
The steadier four-week moving average for claims fell a
seasonally adjusted 6,750 to 234,750 last week.
Americans are on pace to file the fewest jobless claims this
year than any since 1973. Weekly initial unemployment applications
have held below 300,000, viewed by many economists as a healthy
level, for 145 weeks.
That is the longest streak since claims remained below that
level for about three years ended April 1970, though the U.S.
population and workforce were far smaller in those days.
A low level of layoffs this year is consistent with other
reports showing steady hiring. Employers added a solid 228,000 in
November and the unemployment rate held at 4.1%, a 17-year low.
The number of claims drawn by workers longer than a week fell by
27,000 to 1.89 million in the week ended Dec. 2. Data on continuing
claims are released with a one-week lag.
Damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which struck U.S.
territories in the Caribbean in September, has slowed the
processing of jobless claims there for several months.
"Claims taking procedures continue to be disrupted in the Virgin
Islands, " the Labor Department said on Thursday. "The claims
taking process in Puerto Rico has still not returned to
normal."
Write to Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 14, 2017 09:29 ET (14:29 GMT)
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