U.S. Jobless Claims Fell Last Week Amid Market Selloff

Claims are on track to end the year at the lowest levels since the late 1960s

Paul Kiernan and

Sharon Nunn

Updated Dec. 27, 2018 1:50 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—The number of U.S. workers filing applications for jobless benefits ticked down last week, an encouraging sign that the volatility plunge in stock markets is having little effect on employment.

Initial jobless claims, an indication of layoffs, fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 in the week ended Dec. 22, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was slightly less than the 217,000 new applications forecast in a Wall Street Journal survey of economists.

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