For the week ending Dec. 3, initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled a seasonally adjusted 327,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 321,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Dec. 8.
The department's four-week moving average of initial claims, considered by many economists to be a better indication of underlying labor market conditions because it smooths out week-to-week changes, was 322,500, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average of 322,750.
