Dec. 3 (UPI) — Another 700,000 U.S. workers have filed for unemployment, the Labor Department said Thursday in its weekly jobless report.
The department said 712,000 additional workers filed new unemployment claims for the week ending Nov. 28, a decrease of 75,000.
Thursday’s report was the first in three weeks to show a decline in claims from one week to the next.
The department also revised last week’s figure up by 9,000 claims.
The jobless figure on Thursday was slightly better than the 775,000 most analysts expected.
Five and a half million continuing claims, which lag initial claims by a week, are also lower than expected. The report showed those claims decreased by about 570,000.
The report said the unemployment rate at the end of last week was 3.8%.
The department will expand on the U.S. employment picture on Friday when it releases its November jobs report.
Experts predict the report will show between 440,000 and 480,000 jobs were added last month. In their joint report Wednesday, ADP and Moody’s Analytics said 307,000 private payrolls were added nationwide in November.
