The U.S. Department of Labor announced on December 4 (local time) that initial jobless claims for the previous week totaled 191,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the week before. This is the lowest number of claims in three years and two months, since September 2022. It also fell below the 220,000 claims forecast by experts surveyed by Dow Jones.
The number of continuing jobless claims-those filed by individuals who have been receiving unemployment benefits for two weeks or more-stood at 1,939,000, down by 4,000 from the previous week. The previous week's figure was revised down by 17,000 to 1,943,000.
Following the cancellation of the October employment report and the delay of the November indicators due to the U.S. federal government shutdown, Wall Street is focusing on alternative employment indicators such as jobless claims to gauge labor market trends. Experts believe that, given economic uncertainty, employers are reducing new hires rather than layoffs, resulting in a labor market characterized by both low hiring and low layoffs.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
