The number of Americans filing initial jobless claims last week fell to the lowest level in 52 years, faring much better than economists were expecting, despite ongoing struggles in the labor market which is still down about 4 million jobs from pre-pandemic levels.
Last week, economists were expecting about 211,000 new jobless claims.
The Associated Press.
In the week ending December 4, 184,000 people filed initial jobless claims, down 43,000 from the previous week and the lowest level since 1969.
The figure came in much better than the average economist expected, according to the data.
The number of continued claims in all programs for the week ending November 20 fell to 1.9 million from 2.3 million the previous week.
Mark Hamrick, an analyst with Bankrate, said in an email that the "very low" jobless claims figure could indicate companies are becoming more cautious about letting people go given the challenges they are facing in filling open positions.
The level of new job loss is very low, healing from the crisis levels last year. In the same week last year, nearly 6 million Americans received any form of benefit, and 853,000 Americans filed for new unemployment insurance. On the other side of the equation, the number of job openings is very high, affirming that workers are very often in the driver's seat in seeking or retaining jobs.
The key background.
A recent increase in infections coincides with a disappointing jobs report for November, when the United States added less than half of the jobs economists expected. Jay Pestrichelli, the CEO of Florida-based investment firm, says that last week's weaker-than- expected jobs report may stoke fears of a possible recession. The job market had its worst month of the year in September because of the Covid-19 infections that set a cautionary precedent earlier this year.
4%. The unemployment rate in November was its lowest point in more than a year, but still above average.
The U.S. has 11 million job openings with Americans still quitting their jobs at near-record rates.
In November, the U.S. labor market recovery lost steam.
