MarketWatch (11/25/15) Jeffry Bartash
The U.S. Department of Labor reports U.S. unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to 260,000 in the week before Thanksgiving, keeping jobless claims near the lowest level in years. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims to total a seasonally adjusted 270,000 in the seven days Nov. 15-21. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, was unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 271,000, according to DOL. Continuing claims totaled 2.21 million in the seven days ended Nov. 14, which is 34,000 more than in the previous week.