Winning: American Unemployment Claims Stay at Record 17-Year Low

American unemployment benefits claims remain at a 17-year record low, according to new data released on Thursday from by the U.S. Department of Labor.

American workers filed 245,000 claims for state unemployment benefits during the week that ended on December 23, according to seasonally adjusted jobless statistics published on Thursday.

Since mid-October, unemployment claims have ranged 223,000 to 252,000 workers.

The American economy reached its 147th straight week that unemployment claims dipped below 300,000, which marks the longest unemployment streak since 1970.

The unemployment rate has reached a 17-year low at 4.1 percent as the economy added 228,000 jobs in November, more than double the roughly 100,000 jobs per month needed to keep up with the growth in the working-age population.

The growing economy encouraged the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month for the third time year. The country’s central bank signaled that it plans to raise rates three times next year.

American consumer sentiment reached its highest level since 2000, according to the University of Michigan.

Retail sales also boomed 4.9 percent over the previous holiday shopping season.

Several other American corporations announced that they will also invest in their employees, give their workers bonuses and wage hikes, and invest in America.

Comcast announced after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December that they will distribute $1,000 bonuses to more than one hundred thousand frontline and non-executive employees and invest more than $50 billion in infrastructure over the next several years as a result of Republicans passing tax reform.

Fellow bank Wells Fargo also revealed that they will raise their staff minimum wage to $15 an hour and would also target $400 million in donations to community and non-profit organizations next year thanks to the Republican tax bill.

AT&T announced that they will distribute more $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 of their employees and invest more than $1 billion next year in their domestic business.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday, “Retail sales are at record numbers. We’ve got the economy going better than anyone ever dreamt – and you haven’t seen anything yet!”