US initial jobless claims 214K vs estimate of 225K estimate.

• Prior week 224K revised to 224K
• The 4-week moving average was 216,750, a decrease of 750
  from the previous week’s unrevised average of 217,500
• Continuing claims 1.923M vs 1.900 estimate.
• Prior week 1.897M revised to 1.885M
• The 4-week
  moving average was 1,893,750, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s
  average was revised down by 3,000 from 1,902,000 to 1,899,000.

Initial jobless claims track the weekly number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time and are one of the most timely indicators of U.S. labor-market health and overall economic momentum. Rising claims can signal increasing job losses and a slowing economy, while declining claims suggest that hiring is outpacing layoffs, pointing to underlying economic strength. Released every Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor, the report is closely watched by economists and markets alike, with particular emphasis on the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out weekly volatility and provides a clearer view of underlying labor-market trends.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 13 were in Rhode Island (+452), West Virginia
(+325), Connecticut (+128), Mississippi (+57), and New Mexico (+51), while the largest decreases were in Illinois
(-7,242), New York (-5,720), Pennsylvania (-5,129), Minnesota (-4,361), and Georgia (-4,325).

Yesterday, ADP released their weekly 4-week moving average:

• ADP Pulse for the week ending December 6 comes in at 11.5K vs a revised 17.5K last week

The ADP released their monthly report for November earlier in the month and it showed a net decline for the month at 32K. The report yesterday suggests a rebound in December.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.