US jobless claims contract to 7-month low

Initial claims for US unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly last week, hitting a seven-month low, indicating the persistence of a robust US labor market.

Data released today, Nov. 27, showed that jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 213,000 during the week ended Nov. 23.

This came against expectations for an increase to 216,000 claims compared with last week's reading, which was revised upward to 215,000 in total.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out weekly fluctuations, decreased by 1,250 claims to 217,000, from the previous week's revised-up average of 218,250.

Unemployment claims are typically issued on Thursday of each week. However, they were released early this week due to the observance of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US tomorrow.