Topline
The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week to a seven-month low, according to the Labor Department, as concerns persist about a struggling labor market.
Recent economic data and analysts have warned of a cooling labor market in recent months.
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Key Facts
Applications for jobless benefits in the U.S. totaled 216,000 last week, the Labor Department reported, a decline from the 220,000 reported for the previous week and below Wall Street’s estimates for claims to rise to 230,000, according to FactSet.
That’s the lowest number of applications since 219,000 were reported the week of April 3.
Continuing jobless claims, a measure of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.96 million, up just 7,000 from the previous week.
What To Watch For
Unemployment data for November and October. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said it would partially release October’s jobs data, noting that it would be included in November’s report and that the unemployment rate would not be released for October. November’s employment report was postponed to Dec. 16, meaning the Federal Reserve will be without inflation and employment data for November and October before discussing a possible cut to interest rates on Dec. 10. Investors are trading in odds of 82.9% for the Fed to cut interest rates by a quarter-point to between 3.5% and 3.75%, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.