The U.S. Department of Labor released its weekly jobless claims for the week ending on November 15. The reading came in at 291,000, against a Bloomberg consensus estimate of 284,000. The previous revised reading was 293,000.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that no special factors had an impact on this week’s initial claims. The four-week moving average was 287,500, which only increased 2,500 from the previous reading of 285,000.
Continuing claims, which are reported with a one-week lag, came in at 2.33 million, which was a decrease of 73,000 from the previous reading. This marks the lowest level for insured unemployment since December in 2000. The army of the unemployed is getting smaller and smaller.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6% during the week ending November 8, which was unchanged from the prior week.
Overall, this report is bouncing off multiyear lows from recent readings, and this was really just a matter of time. The good news is that, even though this reading came in over the estimates, the level still remains under the 300,000 mark, which economists use as a barometer for a great jobs market.
ALSO READ: America’s Richest (and Poorest) States
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
