US Jobless Claims Fall to 198,000, Below All Estimates (2)

Applications for US unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level since November, following weeks of holiday season volatility in the data.

Initial claims decreased by 9,000 to 198,000 in the week ended Jan. 10, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The figure was below all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Claims have only fallen below 200,000 a few times in recent years. The four-week moving average of new applications, a metric that helps smooth out volatility, fell to 205,000 last week, the lowest in two years.

Thursday’s figures suggest layoffs ...