U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Dip To Three-Month Low

RTTNews | 871 days ago
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Dip To Three-Month Low

(RTTNews) - With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended December 31st.

The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 204,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level of 223,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 225,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected dip, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 190,000 in the week ended September 24th.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 213,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 220,500.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 24,000 to 1.694 million in the week ended December 24th.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of continuing claims inched up to 1,687,500, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,681,500.

"Initial claims data can be noisy around the holidays, but the low level of initial claims is a reminder that employers overall still aren't laying off large numbers of workers," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, "A higher level of continued claims, meanwhile, suggests that workers are collecting benefits for longer because finding a new job may be getting more difficult, if only slightly so."

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report for December.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 200,000 jobs in December after surging by 263,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.7 percent.

read more
U.S. New Home Sales Spike From Downwardly Revised Level In April

U.S. New Home Sales Spike From Downwardly Revised Level In April

The Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing new home sales in the U.S. in the month of April spiked compared to a significantly downwardly revised level in March. The report said new home sales soared by 10.9 percent to an annual rate of 743,000 in April after jumping by 2.6 percent to a downwardly revised rate of 670,000 in March.
RTTNews | 2 days ago
U.S. Existing Home Sales Unexpectedly See Further Downside In April

U.S. Existing Home Sales Unexpectedly See Further Downside In April

Existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly saw further downside in the month of April, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. NAR said existing home sales fell by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.00 million in April after plunging by 5.9 percent to a rate of 4.02 million in March.
RTTNews | 3 days ago
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Down To 227,000

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Down To 227,000

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a slight decline by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 17th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 227,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 229,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000.
RTTNews | 3 days ago
U.S. Leading Economic Index Slumps More Than Expected In April

U.S. Leading Economic Index Slumps More Than Expected In April

The Conference Board released a report on Monday showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators slumped by more than expected in the month of April. The report said the leading economic index tumbled by 1.0 percent in April after sliding by a downwardly revised 0.8 percent in March.
RTTNews | 6 days ago
U.S. Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Continues To Deteriorate In May

U.S. Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Continues To Deteriorate In May

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly continued to deteriorate in the month of May, according to preliminary data released by the University of Michigan on Friday. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index dipped to 50.8 in May after slumping to 52.2 in April. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 53.4.
RTTNews | 9 days ago
U.S. Import, Export Prices Unexpectedly Inch Higher In April

U.S. Import, Export Prices Unexpectedly Inch Higher In April

The Labor Department released a report on Friday unexpectedly showing modest increases by both U.S. import and export prices in the month of April. The report said import prices crept up by 0.1 percent in April after falling by a downwardly revised 0.4 percent in March.
RTTNews | 9 days ago