U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending December 6 reached 236,000, surpassing the forecasted 220,000. The previous week's claims were revised to 192,000. Meanwhile, the September trade deficit was reported at $52.8 billion, significantly better than the anticipated $63.3 billion, and revised from $59.6 billion to $59.3 billion. This marks the smallest trade deficit since June 2020.