US jobless claims drop for fifth week in a row
Friday, 26 December 2014
NEW YORK, Dec 25 (AFP): New claims for US unemployment insurance fell last week for the fifth week in a row, according to government figures published Wednesday.
Initial jobless claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, totaled 280,000 in the week ending December 20, down 9,000 from the previous week, according to US Department of Labor data.
Analysts had projected 290,000 claims.
The result marked the 14th week in the last 15 in which weekly claims have stood below 300,000. The current count is also the lowest since the first week of November.