First-time applications for unemployment compensation climbed 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000 in the week ended Dec. 24, the Labor Department reported. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 366,000 from 364,000.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had projected claims for the latest week would rise to 374,000.
Estimates were used for seven states that didn’t complete their calculations in time because of a federal holiday on Monday, which a Labor Department official said was not usual. Those states included California, Virginia, Arizona and Colorado.
The average of new claims filed over the past four weeks, meanwhile, dropped by 5,750 to 375,000, which is the lowest level since June 2008. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data .... Read more at http://www.marketwatch.com
