According to the Labor Department, some improvement of the labor market is seen. Although the number of new unemployment claims rose by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000, the level is lower than a year ago. Unemployment claims for the week ending Dec. 22 were revised from 350,000 up to 362,000.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.7% in November 2012 from 8.7% in 2011. The December unemployment data on is to be released on Friday.
December data are traditionally characterized by the volatility of claims during the Christmas time. The fluctuation in the data is connected with Christmas holiday in some government offices and planned traditional layoffs in many industries. All this can affect the unadjusted numbers.