US Unemployment Claims Settle Back After Prior Week’s Jump

Applications for US unemployment benefits fell after a spike in the previous week, underscoring the choppy nature of the data at this time of year.

Initial claims decreased by 13,000 to 224,000 in the week ended Dec. 13, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 225,000 applications.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.9 million in the previous week.

--With assistance from Chris Middleton.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jarrell Dillard in Washington at jdillard11@bloomberg.net

To contact the ...