Initial claims
US initial and continuing claims
  • Prior week 205K revised to 206K
  • Initial jobless claims 218K vs 210K estimate
  • 4-week moving average of initial jobless claims 212.00K versus 212.25K last week
  • Continuing Claims 1.875M vs 1.875M estimate. Prior week 1.865M revised to 1.861M
  • 4-week moving average of continuing claims 1.8645M vs 1.877M last week.
  • The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 16 were in Ohio (+1,304), Oklahoma (+1,029), Michigan (+580), Connecticut (+472), and Massachusetts (+432),
  • The largest decreases were in California (-3,834), Georgia (-1,684), Pennsylvania (-588), Arkansas (-541), and Minnesota (-500).

Note that generally speaking around holidays initial and continuing claims can the more volatile as holiday jobs swing around in a more volatile fashion.