US jobless claims edge down to lowest level since 1969

By Ishika Dangayach on Nov 24, 2021 | 03:34 AM IST

• Initial jobless claims dropped to 199,000 last week.

• The 4-week moving average edged to 252,250, the lowest level since the coronavirus outbreak

New claims for unemployment in the United States have dropped to 199,000, the lowest level since November 1969, signaling that the job market is trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Labour Department reported on Wednesday a substantial drop of 71,000 from the previous week’s claim which was revised up by 2,000 from 268,000 to 270,000.

However, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the claims to fall to 260,000.

The 4-week moving average edged to 252,250, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's revised average. This lowest level since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis last year.

The fall in the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits dropped sharply, reflecting the impact of the end of several federal pandemic benefits programs by the states.

Job Creation

Meanwhile, employers created jobs rapidly in October, and the unemployment rate fell considerably as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 delta variant wave.

The Labor Department said that nonfarm payrolls in the country increased by 531,000 seasonally adjusted jobs in October, up from 312,000 in September, which had been revised from 194,000.

The jobless rate decreased to 4.6% in October from 4.8% in September. Last month, the number of Americans working or looking for employment increased, as did the average hourly pay in the U.S.

Treasury yields

Treasury yields in the United States barely changes after the release of weekly jobless claims data.

At 8:45 a.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield increased to 1.672 percent. The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 2.017 percent.

Picture Credits: Aljazeera

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