U.S. Initial Jobless Claims at 207,000; Q4 GDP Rises 2.3%

Last week's U.S. initial jobless claims fell short of market expectations.

According to the United States Department of Labor's announcement on the 30th (local time), U.S. initial jobless claims were 207,000, below the market expectation of 224,000. This was also less than the revised figure of 223,000 from the previous week.

The number of continued jobless claims, which refers to those who have claimed unemployment benefits for two consecutive weeks, was also 1,858,000, below the market expectation of 1,890,000.

The advance estimate of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth quarter, announced on the same day, rose 2.3% compared to the previous quarter, falling short of the market expectation of 2.7%.

The number of initial jobless claims is one of the indicators that can gauge the overheating of the U.S. labor market. A decrease in jobless claims is interpreted as a reduction in the number of unemployed, which can be seen as a sign that the employment market remains robust.