U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Dip To 198,000

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped in the week ended January 10th, the Labor Department revealed in a report released on Thursday.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 198,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 207,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 208,000 originally reported for the previous week.

"Initial jobless claims are still subject to seasonal volatility, but the surprises have been more to the downside," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead US Economist at Oxford Economics.

"Looking through the noise, we see no signs that labor market conditions are worsening," she added. "The claims data offer no reason to change our outlook for the economy or Fed policy."

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 205,000, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week's revised average 211,500.

With the drop, the four-week moving average fell to its lowest level since hitting 203,250 in the week ended January 20, 2024.

The Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also decreased by 19,000 to 1.884 million in the week ended January 3rd.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also edged down to 1,889,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,889,500.

Last Friday, the Labor Department released a more closely watched report showing employment in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of December.

The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 50,000 jobs in December after climbing by a downwardly revised 56,000 jobs in November.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 60,000 jobs compared to the addition of 64,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4 percent in December from a revised 4.5 percent in November.

The unemployment rate was expected to slip to 4.5 percent from the 4.6 percent originally reported for the previous month.