New figures released by the U.S. Labor Department indicate applications for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week.
But they also indicate the stateside labour market appears to be cooling, with the number of Americans on unemployment rolls surging to more than a one-and-a-half-year high at the end of 2019.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 214,000 for the week. The fourth straight weekly decline saw claims almost unwinding the jump seen in early December, blamed on a slightly later Thanksgiving Day.
Economists had forecast claims would decrease to 220,000 in the latest week.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a better measure of labour market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 9,500 to 224,000 last week.
