US initial jobless claims rise to 230,000

Americans filed first-time unemployment claims at an accelerated clip in the week ended 3 December, according to the Labor Department, with initial jobless claims rising by 4,000 to 230,000, up from the prior week's upwardly revised print.

The largest increases in initial claims were seen in Wisconsin, Connecticut, Ohio, Tennessee, and Massachusetts, while the largest decreases were in California, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, and Florida.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, also printed at 230,000, the highest level seen since the final week of August.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate came to 1.2% for the week ended 26 November, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com