On the eve of Christmas, the U.S. job market is warming up, with 214,000 initial claims last week, a slight decline from the previous value

Affected by seasonal fluctuations during the holiday season, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States fell last week, indicating a slight recovery in the job market. On December 24, data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the number of initial jobless claims for the week ending December 20 fell to 214,000, compared to expectations and the previous value of 224,000. This figure has returned to the level of November 2021, indicating that the labor market is still not under significant pressure. Specifically, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania saw the largest declines in jobless claims, while Rhode Island and Massachusetts experienced slight increases in claims. For the week ending December 13, the number of continuing jobless claims in the U.S. recorded 1.923 million, higher than the expected 1.9 million and the previous value of 1.897 million. Although this data has rebounded from earlier seasonal fluctuations caused by the government shutdown and Thanksgiving, it remains significantly below the high levels seen earlier this year. Following the data release, U.S. stock futures saw a slight increase. Nasdaq futures rose 0.02% during the day, S&P 500 futures narrowed their decline to 0.02%, and Dow futures fell 0.02%. Continued Low Layoff Trends Data released on Wednesday showed that the scale of layoffs in the U.S. labor market remains low. Although companies like Pepsi and HP have recently announced layoff plans, no large-scale actual layoffs have been observed yet. Unadjusted data indicated an increase in initial jobless claims last week, with New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington showing the most significant growth. Meanwhile, a report released on Tuesday indicated that the consumer confidence index for December has declined for the fifth consecutive month, partly due to concerns about the job market outlook. These data present a complex picture for investors: on one hand, objective employment data remains robust; on the other hand, consumer subjective expectations regarding the job market are becoming more pessimistic. This divergence may affect future consumer spending, thereby putting pressure on economic growth. Against this backdrop, the continued resilience of the labor market may provide the Federal Reserve with some policy space in balancing inflation control and economic growth