The Labor Department reports in the week ending December 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 381,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 404,000. The 4-week moving average was 393,250, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 396,250.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 26 was 3,583,000, a decrease of 174,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,757,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,667,250, a decrease of 20,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,687,750.
The Labor Department reported the states with the highest unemployment rates for the week ending November 19, were Alaska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
The drop in claims last week pulled them back below the 400,000 level usually associated with improving labor market conditions. Unemployment claims were the latest data to suggest an acceleration in economic growth in the current quarter after output expanded at a 2.0% annual rate in the July-September period.
The number of Americans on emergency unemployment benefits declined 178,610 to 2.79 million in the week ended November 19, the latest week for which data is available.
A total of 6.57 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs, down 431,397 from the prior week.
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