New jobless claims totaled 184,000 last week, reaching lowest since 1969

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Source: Yahoo! Finance

Yahoo Finance

New jobless claims totaled 184,000 last week, reaching lowest since 1969

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, December 9, 2021, 8:31 AM · 3 min read

New initial jobless claims improved much more than expected last week to reach the lowest level in more than five decades, further pointing to the tightness of the present labor market as many employers seek to retain workers.

The Labor Department released its weekly jobless claims report on Thursday. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

Stay ahead of the market
Initial unemployment claims, week ended Dec. 4: 184,000 vs. 220,000 expected and an upwardly revised 227,000 during prior week

Continuing claims, week ended Nov. 27: 1.992 million vs. 1.910 million expected and a downwardly revised 1.954 million during prior week

Jobless claims decreased once more after a brief tick higher in late November. At 184,000, initial jobless claims were at their lowest level since Sept. 1969.

"The consensus always looked a bit timid, in light of the behavior of unadjusted claims in the week after Thanksgiving in previous years when the holiday fell on the 25th, but the drop this time was much bigger than in those years, and bigger than implied by the recent trend," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in an email Thursday morning. "A correction next week seems likely, but the trend in claims clearly is falling rapidly, reflecting the extreme tightness of the labor market and the rebound in GDP growth now underway."

After more than a year-and-a-half of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., jobless claims have begun to hover below even their pre-pandemic levels. New claims were averaging about 220,000 per week throughout 2019. At the height of the pandemic and stay-in-place restrictions, new claims had come in at more than 6.1 million during the week ended April 3, 2020.

Continuing claims, which track the number of those still receiving unemployment benefits via regular state programs, have also come down sharply from pandemic-era highs, and held below 2 million last week.

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-unemployment-claims-week-ended-dec-4-2021-192034644.html

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Here's the original article, from 8:32 this morning:

Yahoo Finance

Jobless claims: Another 184,000 Americans filed new claims last week

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, December 9, 2021, 8:31 AM

New initial jobless claims improved much more than expected last week, further pointing to the tightness of the present labor market as many employers seek to retain workers.

The Labor Department released its weekly jobless claims report on Thursday. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

Initial unemployment claims, week ended Dec. 4: 184,000 vs. 220,000 expected and an upwardly revised 227,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Nov. 27: 1.992 million vs. 1.910 million expected and a downwardly revised 1.954 million during prior week

-- Jobless claims decreased once more after a brief tick higher last week.

After more than a year-and-a-half of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., jobless claims have begun to hover at their pre-virus levels. New claims were averaging about 220,000 per week throughout 2019. At the height of the pandemic and stay-in-place restrictions, new claims had come in at more than 6.1 million during the week ended April 3, 2020.

Continuing claims, which track the number of those still receiving unemployment benefits via regular state programs, have also come down sharply from pandemic-era highs, and reached a March 2020 low of just below 2 million last week.

"Beyond weekly moves, the overall trend in filings remains downward and confirms that businesses facing labor shortages are holding onto workers," wrote Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, in a note on Wednesday.

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Updated (at about 8:40}: Emily McCormick has already rewritten the first paragraph. It now reads:

"New initial jobless claims improved much more than expected last week to reach the lowest level in more than five decades, further pointing to the tightness of the present labor market as many employers seek to retain workers."

There was no update time shown for this.

Hat tip, Johnny2X2X

Weekly jobless claims hit lowest level since 1969

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216128093

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Here are this morning's banner and Emily McCormick's placeholder article from yesterday afternoon.

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COMING UP Jobless claims preview: Another 220,000 Americans likely filed new claims last week
Check back for results at 8:30 a.m. ET

Yahoo Finance
Jobless claims preview: Another 220,000 Americans likely filed new claims last week

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-unemployment-claims-week-ended-dec-4-2021-192034644.html

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Wed, December 8, 2021, 2:20 PM

New initial jobless claims are expected to hold at pre-pandemic levels, further pointing to the tightness of the present labor market as many employers seek to retain workers.

The Labor Department is set to release its weekly jobless claims report on Thursday. Here are the main metrics expected from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial unemployment claims, week ended Dec. 4: 220,000 expected, 222,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Nov. 27: 1.910 million expected, 1.956 million during prior week

Jobless claims are expected to decrease once more after a brief tick higher last week. In mid-November, new weekly claims had plunged to their lowest level since 1969, coming in at 194,000.

Stay ahead of the market
After more than a year-and-a-half of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., jobless claims have begun to hover at their pre-virus levels. New claims were averaging about 220,000 per week throughout 2019. At the height of the pandemic and stay-in-place restrictions, new claims had come in at more than 6.1 million during the week ended April 3, 2020.

Continuing claims, which track the number of those still receiving unemployment benefits via regular state programs, have also come down sharply from pandemic-era highs, and reached a March 2020 low of just below 2 million last week.

"Beyond weekly moves, the overall trend in filings remains downward and confirms that businesses facing labor shortages are holding onto workers," wrote Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, in a note on Wednesday.