News Bites
U.S. weekly jobless claims drop by 15K
(Kitco News) The initial weekly jobless claims decreased to 213,000 in the week to Saturday, beating market expectations.
Economists’ consensus called for initial claims to come in at 223,000 following a revised level of 228,000 reported in the previous week.
The four-week moving average for new claims – often viewed as a more reliable measure of the labor market since it flattens week-to-week volatility – declined to 219,750 from last week’s revised average of 221,250, the U.S. Labor Department said on Wednesday.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1,640,000 during the week ending November 16, down by 57,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,697,000. This marked the lowest level of insured unemployment since August 4, 1973, the report noted. The four-week moving average declined by 13,000 to 1,680,500.
Traders monitor jobs data closely to gauge how aggressively the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee alters monetary policy.
Gold saw a slight drop following the release of the data with February Comex gold futures last at $1,461.10, down 0.43% on the day.
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