Continuing Claims Also Drop to 1.884 Million
Last week, the number of new unemployment benefit claims in the United States declined, reaching the lowest level since November of last year.
A job posting is displayed at a retail store in Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA. Photo by AP Yonhap News
According to the U.S. Department of Labor on January 15 (local time), the number of new unemployment benefit claims for the week of January 4 to 10 was recorded at 198,000. This figure is a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s 207,000 and also falls below the market forecast of 215,000. The four-week moving average of unemployment benefit claims, which removes short-term volatility, also stood at 205,000, marking the lowest level in two years since January 2024.
Although concerns about a slowdown in employment have grown recently due to policy uncertainties such as tariffs, there has been no clear increase in layoffs as companies remain cautious about both new hiring and dismissals. While some companies, including PepsiCo and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, have announced job cuts, these have not spread into widespread restructuring.
The number of continuing unemployment benefit claims, which counts those applying for benefits for two weeks or more, was recorded at 1,884,000 for the period from December 28 to January 3. This represents a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's 1,890,000 and is also below the market expectation of 1,903,000.
The four-week moving average of unemployment benefit claims, which removes short-term volatility, also stood at 205,000, marking the lowest level in two years since January 2024.
Weekly unemployment benefit claims have become more volatile recently due to year-end seasonal factors. This indicator is used to gauge short-term labor market trends amid concerns about an employment slowdown.
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