US DATA: Initial jobless claims +15k to 381k in Dec 24 wk, above the
375k level expected. Claims in the prev wk rev up to 366k vs 364k
originally. Labor analyst said 7 states estimated, 3 of which submitted
their own estimates. Analyst said it is not unusual for states to
estimate around a Monday holiday and most of the state data that have
arrived since the report was completed are close to the estimates.
Analyst said seasonals expected NSA claims to rise 11.8% or by 50k. NSA
claims actually up 69,261 to 490,364. 4-wk moving avg -5,750 to 375,000
in Dec 24 wk. Cont claims +34k to 3.601m in Dec 17 employment survey wk
vs 3.706m in Nov. 12 survey week.