The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, suggesting a continued slowing of the labor market in the fourth quarter of the year. The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that "first-time claims for unemployment benefits increased by 12,000 to 218,000 for the week ending December 23." Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected an increase to 210,000 claims. Amid a slowdown in job growth and more moderate inflation, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged during its policy meeting for the third consecutive time. Economists expect that the campaign of interest rate hikes may have reached its end.
In this context, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced that "crude oil inventories fell by 6.9 million barrels last week to 436.6 million barrels, compared to analysts' expectations in a Reuters survey for a decline of 2.7 million barrels." It added that crude stocks in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 1.5 million barrels in the week ending December 22. The report indicated that U.S. refineries' consumption of crude oil increased by 58,000 barrels per day last week. Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.9 percentage points last week. The administration stated that gasoline inventories dropped by 575,000 barrels to 226.1 million barrels last week, compared to analysts' expectations in a Reuters survey for an increase of 208,000 barrels. The agency's data showed that distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 833,000 barrels over the past week to 115.8 million barrels, while forecasts indicated an increase of 600,000 barrels.
