WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of initial jobless claims in the United States remained unchanged last week, according to a report released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday.

A "We're Hiring" sign is seen on the window of a Wendy's restaurant on October 04, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo: VCG)

In the week ending Saturday, the number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits remained unchanged at 227,000, while the previous week's level was revised up from 225,000 to 227,000.

The report also showed that the four-week moving average of initial claims, a method to iron out data volatility, increased by 3,500 to 221,000. The previous week's average was revised up from 217,000 to 217,500.

As a leading indicator of unemployment status in the United States, a lower reading in jobless claims indicates lower overall layoffs. The reading of jobless claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, signaling a tight labor market in the United States.

For a bigger picture of U.S. labor market, U.S. employers added 128,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate was slightly up to 3.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this month.