The
data from the Labor Department revealed on Thursday the number of applications
for unemployment remained unchanged last week compared to the previous week.
According
to the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits stood at 205,000 for the week
ended December 18.
Economists
had expected 205,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised downwardly to 205,000 from the initial estimate of 206,000.
Meanwhile,
the four-week moving average of jobless claims rose to 206,250 from a downwardly
revised 203,500 (from 203,750) in the previous week.
As
for continuing claims, they slipped to 1,859,000 from an upwardly revised 1,867,000
(from 1,845,000) in the previous week. This was the lowest reading since the
beginning of the coronavirus crisis in mid-March 2020 last year (continuing claims totaled
1,770,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020).