US unemployment claims fall again last week, remain at historically healthy level

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week and remain at historically healthy levels despite some signs that the labor market is weakening. U.S. applications for jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 20 fell by 10,000 to 214,000 from the previous week’s 224,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.