Unemployment Claims Drop to a Seven-Week Low

Unemployment claims continue to fall, the United States Labor Department announced. According to the recent statistics, the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits for the first time is at a seven-week low, which suggests that the economy and job market could be improving.

"The labor market is tightening up. Any job losses are just normal frictional unemployment in a healthy growing economy," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York, reported by Reuters.

"What we have seen in the data over the past few months looks favorable for the labor market," added Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

The Labor Department reported that the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits have fallen by 9,000 from last week. This decline brings the seasonal number to 280,000. According to the Wall Street Journal, economists were expecting 290,000 new claims. The latest reading is the lowest one since the beginning of November.

The average number of applications have fallen 16 percent within the past 12 months. The data also revealed that the number of people filing continuing claims for benefits increased by 25,000.

In November, there were 321,000 jobs added, which was the most in almost three years. The unemployment is currently at 5.8 percent.