Weekly US jobless claims drop sharply
The U.S. jobs market tightened unexpectedly during the preceding week.
According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of initial unemployment claims dropped by 24,000 over the week ending on 18 November to reach 209,000 (consensus: 226,000).
The four-week moving average meanwhile fell by 750 to 220,000.
Secondary unemployment claims, which are those not being filed for the first time and referencing the week that ended on 11 November, dipped by 22,000 to approximately 1.84m.
"One undershoot is not enough to determine if the rising trend in claims is starting to flatten," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"That said, leading indicators suggest claims will level off again soon. Layoff announcements and WARN notices—the best near-term leading indicators of jobless claims—have risen from their summer lows, but aren’t clearly trending higher."