US jobless claims slow in first week of 2024

Americans filed claims for state benefits at a decelerated clip in the week ended 6 January, according to the Labor Department, hitting their lowest level since October.

Initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised value to 202,000, well below consensus expectations for a reading of 210,000.

Elsewhere, continuing claims fell by 34,000 to 1.83m, also below market expectations of 1.87m, seemingly underscoring historical tightness of the US labour market and giving the Federal Reserve wriggle room to prolong its hawkish stance into 2024 as it looks to fight off inflation.

The four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, decreased by just 250 to 207,750, while the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending 30 December, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point week-on-week.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com