First-time claims for weekly unemployment benefits rose to 225,000 for the week ending Dec. 24, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.
That’s an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s tally of 216,000.
Economists expected 225,000 initial claims, according to Refinitiv estimates. Weekly initial claims have remained at pre-pandemic levels for the past several months, only slightly above the 2019 weekly average of 218,000.
The steady level of initial applications continues to paint a “very tight picture” of the US job market, said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.
Continuing claims, which are filed by people who have received unemployment benefits for more than a week, rose to 1.71 million for the week ending Dec. 17, from 1.67 million.
That’s the highest level since February and just shy of pre-pandemic claims of 1.8 million, and suggests workers may have a harder time finding new work.
Weekly unemployment claims are volatile, especially around the holidays, and are often subject to review.
The CNN Wire
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