Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 216,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have retreated from the near 1-1/2-year high seen in early October, which was the result of hurricanes and strikes at Boeing BA.N and another aerospace company.

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell to a seven-month low last week, suggesting that job growth likely rebounded in November after abruptly slowing last month amid hurricanes and strikes.

New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 9,715 in the week ending November 22, down from 10,680 the week before, the Labor Department said. U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 213,000 last week,