By Jill Mislinski
Here is the opening statement from the Department of Labor:
In the week ending December 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 252,000, an increase of 49,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 203,000. This is the highest level for initial claims since September 30, 2017 when it was 257,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,000, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 217,750. [See full report]
Thursday morning's seasonally adjusted 252K new claims, up 49K from the previous week's unrevised figure,