US jobless claims hit 205,000 last week

The US Department of Labor said today that jobless claims in the United States were unchanged at 205,000 seasonally adjusted claims for the week ending December 18, and claims for unemployment benefits fell early this month to 188,000, the lowest level since 1969.

Continuing jobless claims in the United States fell by 8,000 to 1.859 million in the week ending December 11, the lowest level since mid-March 2020. It is expected that the US economy will grow by 7.5% in the fourth quarter after it grew by 2.3% in the third quarter, and the US economy is expected to grow by 5.6% this year, the fastest growth rate since 1984, after the economy contracted by 3.4% in 2020 .