US Jobless Claims Fell to Three-Year Low Over Thanksgiving (4)

Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest in more than three years, indicating that employers are still largely holding onto workers despite a wave of recent layoff announcements.

Initial claims decreased by 27,000 to 191,000 in the week ended Nov. 29, a period that included Thanksgiving. The weekly claims data can be particularly choppy around holidays. The figure was below all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The four-week moving average of new applications, a metric that helps smooth out volatility, fell to 214,750 last week. That’s the lowest since January, ...