Jobless Claims Rise, But Trend Still Points To Slow Improvement

"More Americans signed up for unemployment benefits last week, but the broader trend in layoffs points to a slowly healing jobs market," the Associated Press writes.

According to the Employment and Training Administration, 436,000 people filed first-time claims for jobless benefits in the week ended Nov. 27, up by 26,000 from the week before.

But, AP notes, "the four-week moving average of claims, which smooths volatility, fell to 431,000 last week, a two-year low."

We'll get much more data on the labor market tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. ET, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics is due to report on the November unemployment rate and how many jobs businesses had on their payrolls last month.

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