First-time claims for unemployment benefits ticked down to 294,000 for the week ending Dec. 6, the Department of Labor reported Thursday, down from 297,000 the week before and right in line with expectations.
The four-week moving average remained just below the 300,000 mark, at 299,250, signaling that layoffs remain low amid an expanding labor market.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the economy added a healthy 321,000 jobs in November. At 5.8 percent, the unemployment rate has plummeted by 1.2 percentage points over the past year.
The total number of workers receiving unemployment insurance fell by 95,846 to 2,153,612 through Nov. 22, the Labor Department said Thursday.
That number was down from 3,820,947 the year before. That improvement reflects both the rapid decline in unemployment and the expiration last December of unemployment benefits for workers out of a job for longer than 26 weeks.
