US New Unemployment Claims at 200,000...Below Market Expectations

Continuing Claims Fall to 1.849 Million

Last week, the number of new unemployment benefit claims in the United States came in below expectations.

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 22 (local time), the number of new unemployment benefit claims for the week of January 11 to 17 was reported at 200,000. This figure is similar to the previous week's 199,000 and lower than the market forecast of 209,000.

The four-week moving average of new unemployment benefit claims, which removes short-term volatility, fell to 201,500, marking the lowest level in about two years.

The number of continuing unemployment benefit claims, which counts those applying for benefits for more than two weeks, stood at 1,849,000 for the period from January 4 to 10. This represents a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's 1,875,000.

While companies remain cautious about new hiring amid ongoing policy uncertainties such as tariffs, layoffs also appear to be limited.

Eliza Winger, an economist at Bloomberg Economics, analyzed, "U.S. companies reduced seasonal hiring, resulting in limited post-holiday layoffs and keeping new unemployment benefit claims at a low level. Since news about layoffs remains relatively rare, there are no clear signs that overall labor market conditions are changing."