Weekly US jobless claims come in below forecasts

Unemployment claims were stronger than expected during the final week of 2022, reflecting lower layoffs and only slightly decreased hiring over holidays.

According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 204,000 over the week ending on 31 December.

Economists had been expecting a reading of 223,000.

That was on top of a downwards revision to the data for the prior week of 2,000 to 223,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of initial claims, which aims to smooth out the variations in the weekly data, dropped by 6,750 to 213,750.

Secondary claims, which are those not being filed for the first time and referencing the week before, slipped by 24,000 to 1.694m, reversing about half of the prior week's increase.

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