Weekly Unemployment Claims Hits More than 50-year Low

Weekly claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a new multi-decade low last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

At 184,000 claims, adjusted for seasonal swings, it was the lowest level of initial claims since September 1969, when the figure stood at 182,000.

“In the week ending December 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 184,000, a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week’s revised level,” the labor department reported.

The previous week’s level was revised up by 5,000 from 222,000 to 227,000, the report stated.

The 4-week moving average was 218,750, a decrease of 21,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

This is the lowest level for this average since March 7, 2020, when it was 215,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 238,750 to 240,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent for the week ending November 27, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 27 was 1,992,000, an increase of 38,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,956,000 to 1,954,000.

The 4-week moving average was 2,027,500, a decrease of 54,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,730,750.

The previous week’s average was revised down by 2,500 from 2,084,250 to 2,081,750.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 20 were in Alaska (2.9), District of Columbia (2.8), New Jersey (2.3), Puerto Rico (2.3), California (2.1), Hawaii (1.8), Minnesota (1.8), Nevada (1.8), Illinois (1.7), and Massachusetts (1.7).