U.S. initial jobless claims fall to 258,000

The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid fell to 258,000 last week, echoing an improving job market, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

In the week ending Dec. 3, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 258,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the unrevised level of the previous week.

The four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, increased 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average to 252,500.

This marks 92 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, a benchmark for real job growth or loss in the economy, the longest streak since 1970, said the Labor Department.

Meanwhile, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Nov. 26 decreased 79,000 from the previous week to 2,005,000.

The U.S. job market continued its steady expansion in November with jobless rate down to a nine-year low, the Labor Department said last week.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 178,000 in November, as the jobless rate went down from October's 4.9 percent to 4.6 percent, the lowest level since August 2007. Endi