About 204,000 Workers Applied For Unemployment Last Week

The Labor Department released its weekly unemployment statistics on Thursday. It showed that about 204,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending on December 31st. Here is the official Labor Department statement:

In the week ending December 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 204,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 225,000 to 223,000. The 4-week moving average was 213,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 221,000 to 220,500.