According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, jobless claims declined by 27,000 to 191,000 in the week ended November 29.
- The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, fell by 9,500 to 214,750.
- Continuing claims, which refer to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits beyond the first week, hovered in the 1.94 million range for the week ended November 22, decreasing by 4,000 over the previous week.
- The largest increase in claims came from California at 7,897, followed by Illinois at 2,845, whereas the largest decrease in claims was from Kentucky at 1,107 and New Jersey at 385.
Weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest levels since September 2022, coming in lower than Wall Street estimates.
According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, jobless claims fell by 27,000 to 191,000 in the week ended November 29. This was lower than a Dow Jones estimate of 218,000, as cited by MarketWatch.
The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, fell by 9,500 to 214,750.
Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, noted in a post on X that despite its volatile nature, this drop will “still attract attention to see whether this is a durable trend or just seasonal noise masking a cooling labor market.”
Continuing Claims Edge Lower
Continuing claims, which refer to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits beyond the first week, hovered in the 1.94 million range for the week ended November 22, decreasing by 4,000 over the previous week.
The largest increase in claims came from California at 7,897, followed by Illinois at 2,845, whereas the largest decrease in claims was from Kentucky at 1,107 and New Jersey at 385.
Unexpected Job Cuts
According to the ADP jobs report released on Wednesday, private payrolls unexpectedly declined in November, as small businesses pulled back sharply.
The report showed that small businesses reported a net decline of 120,000 employees, while mid-sized and large businesses added 90,000 employees on a net basis.
Overall, U.S. companies cut 32,000 jobs during the month, while analysts expected an addition of 40,000 roles.
Layoff announcements in 2025 through November rose to 1.17 million, up 54% compared to the same period a year ago, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Meanwhile, U.S. equities gained in Thursday’s pre-market trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up by 0.26%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) rose 0.27%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.11%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bearish’ territory.
The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) was down by 0.17% at the time of writing.
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