The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits around the Thanksgiving holiday fell to a more than three-year low, reinforcing the view that businesses are mostly avoiding layoffs even as they freeze hiring.
The drop in new claims last week was likely exaggerated by Thanksgiving. Lots of people who lose jobs around a holiday tend to delay filling out their applications.
Still, the number of people losing jobs each week and applying for benefits remains very low historically.
So-called initial jobless claims sank by 27,000 to 191,000 in the seven days ended Nov. 29, from a revised 218,000 in the prior week, the government said Thursday. It’s the lowest reading since September 2022.
Key details: The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits — known as continuing claims — fell slightly to 1.94 million.
These claims sit near a post-pandemic high, however, in a sign of how much harder it’s gotten to find a job.
Big picture: The jobs market has turned chilly after several years of rapid hiring and it’s unlikely to thaw out anytime soon.
The big question is how the Federal Reserve reacts to a recent slew of information on the labor market when it meets next week to decide whether to cut interest rates again.
Top Fed officials will be comforted by the low level of layoffs, but hiring has come to a standstill and the economy might even be losing net jobs. The central bank cut rates twice since September because it was worried about rising unemployment.
