Initial claims for jobless benefits in the U.S. were not as bad as may have been expected last week.
Information released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department showed initial jobless claims declined by 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ending Dec. 26. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims to rise to 828,000. The previous week’s total for initial claims was upwardly revised by 3,000 to 806,000.
Though jobless claims have dropped from a record 6.867 million in March, they have held persistently above their 665,000 peak hit during the 2007-09 Great Recession. The weekly unemployment claims report, the most timely data on the economy’s health, aligns with other recent weak economic reports, including a decline in consumer confidence to a four-month low in December and drops in both consumer spending and income last month.
