The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended December 17th.
The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 216,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 214,000.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.