US jobless claims fall to a 14-month low of 432,000

Fresh unemployment insurance claims in the US declined by 22,000 during the week ended 26 December to a seasonally adjusted 432,000, the lowest since July 2008, the labor department said in its report yesterday.

The decline from the previous week's revised figure of 454,000 points to an improvement in the labor market that will help sustain economic growth next year, analysts said.

The number of people collecting unemployment insurance (UI) benefits fell in the prior week to 4.98 million, and those receiving extended benefits jumped.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.8 per cent for the week ended 19 December, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate of 3.8 per cent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ended 19 December was 4,981,000, a decrease of 57,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,038,000.

The 4-week moving average was 5,101,000, a decrease of 122,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,223,250.