U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Hit Five Decades Low

Fewer Americans applied for weekly unemployment benefits marking a five-decade low last week. However, new claims came in near pre-pandemic level highlighting improvements in the labor market.

According to the data released by Labor Department, initial unemployment claims for the week ended on November 27 stood at 222,000 compared to 240,000 forecasted. Prior week’s revised number stood at 194,000.

Continuing claims for the week ended on November 20 stood at 1.956 million compared to 2.003 million expected. Prior week’s revised number stood at 2.049 million.

Jobless claims rose for the first time in eight weeks while continuing claims fell to fresh March 2020 low.