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"[Yesterday's report] provides some confirmation that we are seeing some resilience in labor market conditions"
- Julia Coronado, chief economist for BNP Paribas
The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits declined to 390 thousand last week from 400 thousand the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday. Economists expected the reading to advance to 401 thousand.
"It provides some confirmation that we are seeing some resilience in labor market conditions, but we saw a similar downward drift in initial claims last fall owing to lower than usual seasonal layoffs that was not matched by an acceleration in payrolls," said Julia Coronado, chief economist for BNP Paribas in a statement to clients.
"Today's report is a positive sign for the state of the labor market in the fourth quarter," said John Herrmann, a senior fixed income strategist at State Street Global Markets LLC in Boston. "The economy remains very exposed to potential turbulence in the euro zone, but at least the economy is growing at a decent clip. Job retention is pretty high. Businesses have been very carefully managing their headcount."