New Unemployment Insurance Claims for The Week of December 31, 2016

Earlier today, the Labor Department released its weekly report on New Jobless Insurance Claims for the week that ended on December 31, 2016:

Predicted: 260,000
Actual: 235,000

The yellow-highlighted figure represents the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits for the entire United States. The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

• Last Week (revised): 263,000

• 4-Week Moving Average: 256,750

From today's report:

"...There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims. This marks 96 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1970..."

• Click here to view the full Labor Department report