Defying the expectations of at least some economists, the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits for the first time dropped significantly last week
According to statistics released by the Labor Department Thursday, the number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment assistance dropped to 202,000 for the week ending Dec. 9. That’s a drop of some 19,000 claims in a week when economists expected them to remain largely unchanged.
The decrease left jobless claims at their lowest level since hitting 200,000 in the week ended Oct. 14.
“Initial jobless claims continue to bounce around due to seasonal noise, falling last week to their lowest level since mid-October,” Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, told RTT News. “Looking past seasonal volatility, initial claims remain at a level that is consistent with relatively low layoffs.”
The Labor Department said the four-week moving average also dropped, slipping to 213,250, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 221,000.
Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 20,000 to 1.876 million in the week ended December 2nd.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also climbed to 1,874,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,871,000, reaching the highest level since December 2021.
“The continued claims data suggest that some unemployed individuals may be encountering more difficulties in finding new jobs, which would be consistent with weakening demand for labor,” said Vanden Houten.
