potentially keeping the jobless rate above 4.0%. Economists said this should allow the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again this month despite stalled progress in lowering inflation to the U.S. central bank's 2% target. "Claims remain low by long ...

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, suggesting that the labor market continued to steadily cool. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 9,

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.