Seasonally adjusted initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended Jan. 4 fell to 214,000 from an upwardly revised 223,000 in the prior week, the U.S. Labor Department reported.

The consensus estimate of economists polled by Econoday was for jobless claims to come in at 219,000.

The four-week moving average declined to 224,000 from the previous week's 233,500, which was revised higher.

In the week ended Dec. 28, 2019, insured unemployment rose to 1,803,000 from 1,728,000 in the preceding week. The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate, which measures the proportion of the labor force receiving unemployment benefits, was unchanged at 1.2%.