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Jobless benefits claims fall in the US
December 25, 2015, 10:39 pm

There has been little change in the unemployment rate which continues to register at five per cent [Xinhua]

There has been little change in the unemployment rate which continues to register at five per cent [Xinhua]


Fewer layoffs and increased job needs have helped unemployment benefits claims drop, the US Labor Department said on Thursday.

In the week ending December 19, unemployment claims fell by 5,000 to 267,000 from the week before, showing a stronger figure than anticipated.

Jobless claims have been below 300,000 for the ninth consecutive month – an indication of a healthy economy – and may have been one of the factors which persuaded the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates last week.

Last week, the US Bureau of Labor statistics reported that “in November, 27 states had over-the-month unemployment rate decreases, 11 states had increases, and 12 states and the District of Columbia had no change.”

However, there has been little change in the unemployment rate which continues to register at five per cent.

While the labor force continues to expand in the US, the Labor Department says that there were 17.4 million layoffs between January and October 2015, roughly the same level during the same period last year.

But there are concerns that the reversal of fortune in the energy sector, chiefly attributed to falling oil prices, could lead to many layoffs in that industry in the coming months.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies