Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Fall to 420,000

Initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week.

Claims fell 3,000 to 420,000 in the week ending Dec. 11, the Department of Labor said. The revised figure for the previous week was 423,000.

A survey of economists by The Wall Street Journal predicted that claims would rise slightly, according to MarketWatch.

Companies are slowly taking on new staff as the economic recovery takes hold. Still,…