US jobless claims fall to lowest level since September 1969

• Initial jobless claims dropped to 184,00 last week. 

• The 4-week moving average edged to 218,750, lowest level since March 2020

New claims for unemployment in the United States have dropped to 184,000, the lowest level since September 1969, signaling that the job market is trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Labour Department reported on Thursday a substantial increase of 43,000 from the previous week which was revised up by 5,000 from 222,000 to 227,000.

However, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the claims to fall to 211,000 for the week. 

The 4-week moving average was 218,750, a decrease of 21,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 7, 2020 when it was 215,250. 

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The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent for the week ending November 27, an increase 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.

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

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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.

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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.

Picture Credits: Aljazeera