U.S. unemployment claims unexpectedly fell according to the U.S. Department of Labor their weekly unemployment insurance claims report.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 6 was 2,413,615, a decrease of 163,041 from the previous week. There were 4,288,629 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2013.
In the week ending December 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 280,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 289,000. The 4-week moving average was 290,250, a decrease of 8,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 298,750.