Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported a decrease in initial unemployment benefit filings in Michigan compared to the previous week. New jobless claims fell to 10,579 for the week ending December 23, a slight reduction from the 10,663 claims of the previous week. Yet, U.S. unemployment claims increased to 218,000 last week, a rise of 12,000 from the preceding week, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Missouri experienced the largest percent increase in weekly claims with a 136.0% jump, while West Virginia saw the most significant percentage drop in new claims at 34.4%.