Instant view: Jobless claims rise in latest week

(Reuters) - New unemployment claims rose to 381,000 in the week ended December 24, but the four-week average fell to 375,000. Markets were little changed after the data.

COMMENTS: DAVID SLOAN, ECONOMIST, IFR ECONOMICS, A UNIT OF THOMSON REUTERS:

"Initial claims in the week to December 24 increased by 15k to 381k, with the preceding week revised up by 2k to 366k. The number exceeds expectations of a 375k reading and provides some dampening on the recent increase in optimism over the state of the labor market. However, with this week's rise following three straight declines totaling 38k there still does appear to have been a significant improvement in the labor market in December, as also implied by several other indicators. With this week coming after the payroll survey week, the declines that preceded the latest increase seem to be more relevant for December payroll forecasts."

PETER JANKOVSKIS, CO-CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT OAKBROOK INVESTMENTS LLC IN LISLE, ILLINOIS:

"My guess is those aren't going to move the market too much. Again they're in line and consistent overall with the improvement we've seen. Overall the numbers are still encouraging compared to where we were, say, 6 months ago."

WAYNE KAUFMAN, CHIEF MARKET ANALYST, JOHN THOMAS FINANCIAL IN NEW YORK:

"The number was pretty close to what was expected, and it's still under 400,000, so it isn't a surprise. I doubt this will impact trading much today, especially since this is the lightest volume week of the year. The only thing impacting trading right now is Europe - everyone is watching Italy. It's the situation that won't go away. It has to reach some kind of resolution, and until it does the market will be subject to the same whipsaw trading that we've seen."

GENNADIY GOLDBERG, INTEREST-RATE STRATEGIST, 4CAST, INC., NEW YORK:

"We've seen a pretty strong trend in claims recently. It was pretty much just a matter of time until they rebounded. There was definitely a positive trend. This finally shows they're correcting to a sustainable downtrend. It was pretty much close enough to expectations that there wasn't much of a market move on it."

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: U.S. stock index futures added modestly to gains BONDS: U.S. bond prices were little changed FOREX: The dollar held gains against the euro