The U.S. Labor Department released its jobless claims figures on Thursday. The number of initial jobless claims in the week ending November 28 in the U.S. rose by 9,000 to 269,000 from 260,000 in the previous week, exceeding expectations for an increase to 268,000.
Jobless claims remained below 300,000 the 39th straight week. This threshold is associated with the strengthening of the labour market.
Continuing jobless claims increased by 6,000 to 2,161,000 in the week ended November 21.