1st time unemployment claims inched higher last week

(CNN)– More people in the U.S. are applying for first time unemployment benefits.

The Labor Department released new data saying there were 205 thousand initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending Dec.16.

That’s up about 2 thousand from the week before.

However, the new numbers are lower than what economists expected.

Also, the Commerce Department reported gross domestic product expanded at an annualized 4.9 percent rate from July through September.