US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims fall to 198K vs. 208K expected

There were 198,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending December 25, data published by the US Department of Labor (DoL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week's print of 206K (revised up from 205K) and came in below market expectations for 208K. 

Continued jobless claims dropped sharply to 1.716M in the week ending December 18, the data showed, well below expectations for a small rise to 1.868M from 1.856M the week prior (which was revised down from 1.859M). The insured unemployment rate fell to 1.3% from 1.4% in the prior week.