The Labor Department released its weekly unemployment report on Thursday. It showed that about 202,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending on December 9th. Here is the official Labor Department statement:

In the week ending December 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 202,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's Revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 220,000 to 221,000. The 4-week moving average was 213,250, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 220,750 to 221,000.