The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid rose to 247,000, better than market expectation.
In the week ending Jan. 7, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 247,000, an increase of 10,000 from the revised level of the previous week, said the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.
This is better than the market expectation of 255,000. The four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility decreased 1,750 from the previous week' s revised average to 256,500.
This marks 97 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, a benchmark for real job growth or loss in the economy, the longest streak since 1970, said the Labor Department.
Meanwhile, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 31 fell 29,000 from the previous week to 2,087,000.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000 in December, and the jobless rate went up from November's 4.6 percent to 4.7 percent, said the Labor Department earlier this month.
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