US jobless claims rise by 14,000

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated clip in the week ended 23 December, suggesting some softening in the labour market toward the end of the year.

According to the Labor Department, initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 218,000 last week, above consensus expectations of 210,000.

Continuing claims increased by 14,000 in the second week of December to a one-month high of 1.87m, meeting market expectations, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, dropped by 12,500 to 1.86m.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com