The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the week ended December 21st.
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 219,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 220,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 224,000.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 226,500, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 225,500.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 46,000 to 1.910 million in the week ended December 14th, reaching their highest level since November 2021.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,881,000, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,877,750.
At 11 am ET, the Energy Information Administration is due to release its report oil inventories in the week ended December 20th. Crude oil inventories are expected to decrease by 1.6 million barrels after dipping by 0.9 million barrels in the previous week.
The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $44 billion worth of seven-year notes at 1 pm ET.