Jobless Claims Fall for Third Straight Week

For the second consecutive week, initial jobless claims fell to a 3-1/2 year low. In the week ending Dec. 17, unemployment claims fell to 364,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week, the Commerce Department announced. The four-week moving average, a less volatile number that flattens out week-to-week fluctuations in the data, was 380,250, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 388,250. Economists say that between 350,000 and 375,000 indicates sustained job growth.The number of Americans filing for continuing unemployment claims during the week ending Dec. 10 was 3,546,000, a decrease of 79,000 from the prior week. The four-week moving average was 3,631,750, a decrease of 40,000 from the previous week. States reported 2,941,157 persons claiming emergency unemployment benefits for the week ending Dec. 3 (the most recent data available), a decrease of 107,769 from the prior week. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Dec. 3 was 7,149,769, a decrease of 299,738 from the previous week. The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 10 were in Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nebraska and New Jersey. The largest decreases were in California, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.