New Jobless Claims Fall for 5th Straight Week Amid US Labor Market Strength

New Jobless Claims Fall for 5th Straight Week Amid US Labor Market Strength
Workers build the 2020 Ford Explorer at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant in Chicago, Ill., on June 24, 2019. Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
|Updated:

The number of initial jobless claims—a measure of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits—fell for the fifth straight week in early January, pointing to ongoing labor market strength.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 204,000 for the week ended Jan. 11, the Labor Department said on Thursday (pdf). Economists polled by Reuters expected claims would rise to 216,000 in the latest week, while those surveyed by MarketWatch forecast an even higher print of 220,000.
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
twitter
Related Topics