U.S. initial jobless claims fall to six-week low

The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid fell to a six-week low and remained below 300,000 last week, U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

In the week ending on Dec. 13, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits declined by 6,000 to 289,000, the fewest since early November and below the key 300,000 mark for the 13th time in the past 14 weeks, the department said.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of the underlying trend of labor market conditions, fell by 750 to 298,750.

The advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending on Dec. 6 stood at 2.37 million, a decrease of 147,000 from the previous week's revised level.

The Labor Department said earlier this month that the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November, the largest gain since January 2012, while the unemployment rate remained at a six-year low of 5.8 percent, pointing to a strengthening job market.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve said in a policy statement that "labor market conditions improved further, with solid job gains and a lower unemployment rate."

The central bank reaffirmed the guidance to maintain federal funds rate at near zero target range for a consideration time following the end of asset purchase program in October, adding that "it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy."