ISTANBUL
The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose by 9,000 last week to 224,000, according to Labor Department data released on Thursday.
The figure came in much higher than market estimates of 213,000.
The previous week’s reading was revised up by only 1,000 from 214,000 to 215,000.
The four-week moving average was 207,750, an increase of 5,250 from the previous week’s revised average.
The US economy added 216,000 jobs in December 2023, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7%.
