Weekly US jobless claims bounce back by less than expected

US jobless claims rebounded a little following a steep drop during the previous week that saw them fell to a level not seen since November 1969.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of people filing for initial unemployment claims rose by 28,000 over the week ending on 27 November to reach 222,000.

Economists had penciled-in a increase to reach 240,000.

The four-week moving average meanwhile, which aims to smooth out the volatility in the data from one week to the next, dropped by 12,250 to 238,750.

Secondary unemployment claims, which are those not being filed for the first time, declined by 107,000 to approximately 1.96m.