United States Initial Jobless Claims

US initial jobless claims soared by 17,000 from the previous week to 242,000 on the first week of December, well above market expectations that they would fall to 220,000, to mark the sharpest count of new claims since October. In turn, outstanding claims rose by 15,000 from the previous week to 1,886,000, relatively close to the three-year high of 1,908,000 from earlier in November. The result pressed against recent hopes that the US labor market remained tight, favoring more rate cuts by the Fed next year. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, claims soared by 99,140 to 310,366, largely due to a surge in California (14,827), New York (9,156), and Texas (9,480).