US Initial Jobless Claims Declined to 220,000 Last Week (2)

Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week to 220,000, indicating that employers are largely still holding onto current workers despite economic uncertainty.

Initial claims decreased by 8,000 in the week ended Nov. 15. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 227,000 applications.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, reached a new four-year high the previous week after increasing over the past month and half, according to Labor Department data released Thursday that included back data for the missed reports during a 43-day shutdown of the federal government.