A representative, left, hands a list of employment descriptions to a job seeker during the Choice Career Fair in San Antonio, Texas.
Matthew Busch Bloomberg Getty Images
The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the underlying trend suggested some softening in labor market conditions.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 213,000 for the week ended Nov. 23, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. Data for the prior week was revised to show 1,000 more claims received than previously reported.
The report was published a day early because of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Claims had been stuck at a five-month high over the previous two weeks, pointing to some easing in the labor market.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims would decrease to 221,000 in the latest week. The Labor Department said no states were estimated last week.
A média móvel de quatro semanas dos pedidos iniciais, considerada uma medida melhor das tendências do mercado de trabalho, na medida em que aumenta a volatilidade de semana para semana, deixou a 1,500 na 219,750 na semana passada.
Os ganhos de emprego diminuíram este ano, com média de 167,000 por mês, em comparação com um ganho mensal médio de 223,000 no 2018, em parte por causa de uma guerra comercial de um mês entre os Estados Unidos e a China, diminuindo a demanda e a escassez de trabalhadores.
But the pace of hiring has been more than the roughly 100,000 jobs needed per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. The unemployment rate is at 3.6%.
Thursday’s claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell 57,000 to 1.64 million for the week ended Nov. 16. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims dropped 13,000 to 1.68 million.
The continuing claims data included the week the government surveyed households for November’s unemployment rate. The four-week average of claims rose slightly between the October and November household survey periods, suggesting little change in the unemployment rate this month, even as consumers’ perceptions of the labor market have become less upbeat.
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