Labor Department reports fewer new jobless claims for 3rd straight week
Dec. 31 (UPI) — The nation’s new jobless claims exceeded expectations with fewer than 200,000 reported for the week ending on Saturday, marking the third straight week that new jobless claims fell.
The number of new jobless claims fell by about 16,000 and posted a seasonally adjusted 199,000, the Labor Department announced on Wednesday.
The term “seasonally adjusted” refers to a statistical method in which seasonal effects, such as weather and holidays, are factored to better show the direction in which the nation’s job market is moving.
Last week’s decline was the third straight week and the seventh of the past eight in which seasonally adjusted new jobless claims declined across the country, MarketWatch reported.
Economists responding to a Wall Street Journal poll had estimated 220,000 new jobless claims for the week.
The prior week’s new jobless claims were revised up by 1,000, from an initial estimated of 214,000 to the adjusted total of 215,000.
The Labor Department reported 269,953 unadjusted new jobless claims last week, which was up by 5,333 and 25 from the prior week ending on Dec. 20. Economists had predicted an increase of 26,612 for a 10.1% increase last week.
The unadjusted new jobless claims for last week were down from 283,488 during the same period in 2024.
Meanwhile, the number of people with previously established unemployment claims fell by 47,000 to 1.87 million for the week that ended on Dec. 20.
The number of continuing claims had risen since the pandemic due to a slowdown in hiring, but they have not grown in number in recent months, according to MarketWatch.
While new and existing jobless claims are down, some economists cautioned that the slow hiring pace since the summer might herald an economic slowdown.
The nation’s total unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, which was its highest rate since September 2021.
The states with the five highest unemployment rates for the week ending on Dec. 13 were Washington state at 2.5%, followed by New Jersey, 2.4%; Massachusetts and Minnesota, 2.2%, each; and California, Illinois and Rhode Island at 2.1%, each.