According to the Ministry of Labor, the initial applications for unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to 216,000 applications for the week ending December 22. The index falls in three of the last four weeks and almost reached the 49-year low of 202,000 hits reached during the week ending September 15. Economists surveyed by Reuters predicted an increase in the number of applications to 217,000. The average number of initial applications for unemployment benefits, considered the best indicator of trends in the labor market, fell by 4,750 to 218,000 applications. The total number of people regularly receiving unemployment benefits also fell by 4,000 to 1.70 million people.
These data should reassure investors a little and support the dollar. Recall market concerns intensified after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week for the fourth time this year. Despite the fact that the regulator predicts a smaller number of rate hikes next year and signals that the tightening cycle is coming to an end in the conditions of financial market volatility and slowing global growth, many believe that even this will be much.
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