US jobless claims fall to new pandemic low
By Ishika Dangayach on Nov 18, 2021 | 04:38 AM IST
• Initial jobless claims dropped to 268,000 last week
• The 4-week moving average edged to 272,750, lowest level since the coronavirus outbreak
The number of new filings for jobless claims dropped to 268,000 last week, the lowest level, since March 2020, indicating a step towards pre-pandemic level job growth that was being hindered by labor shortages.
The Labor Department on Thursday reported the total number for the week ended November 13. It is a substantial drop from the previous week’s revised claim total of 269,000.
However, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the claims to fall to 260,000.
The rate within the 200,000-250,000 range is viewed as consistent with healthy labor market conditions.
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Though the number of workers claiming unemployment benefits is higher than the weekly average in 2019, the recovery in claims has been far faster than it was following the 2007-2009 recession, WSJ reported.
The 4-week moving average edged to 272,750, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average.
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.
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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, 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.
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Treasury yields
Treasury yields in the United States barely changed after the release of weekly jobless claims data.
At 9:00 a.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield increased to 1.613 percent. The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 1.996 percent.