US jobless claims rise slightly but hover near pandemic low

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• • Initial jobless claims dropped to 222,000 last week.
• • The 4-week moving average edged to 238,750, lowest level since the coronavirus outbreak  

New claims for unemployment in the United States have dropped to 222,000, signaling that job market is trying to recover from coronavirus pandemic.

The Labor Department reported on Thursday a substantial increase of 28,000 from the previous week which was revised down by 5,000 from 199,000 to 194,000. 

However, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the claims to fall to 240,000 for the week.

The 4-week moving average edged to 238,750, a decrease of 12,250 from the previous week's revised average. This lowest level since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis last year.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent for the week ending November 20, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate.

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.

Also Read: U.S. new home sales rise slightly in October

Though the recently discovered Omicron version of Covid-19 poses a possible danger to the labour market and the entire economy.

Also Read: Dow takes a U-turn as CDC confirms the first Omicron case in U.S.

According to analysts, the latest incarnation of the virus might cause a little hit to the global economy, but the extent of the harm would depend on the strain's potency, WSJ reported.

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.

U.S private companies added employment at a faster pace in November. According to the ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday, private payrolls climbed by 534,000 jobs last month.

Economic growth

The October–December quarter of U.S. economic growth was revised slightly higher, showing somewhat more consumer expenditure than originally predicted.

According to Commerce Department figures released last week, inflation-adjusted GDP increased at a 2.1 percent annualized pace for the third quarter.

While, the personal consumption expenditure price index, including food and energy, rose to 5% in October from a year ago.

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