US unemployment claims fall to the lowest level since March

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment checks dropped last week to the lowest level since March, suggesting that recommend most workers enjoy unusual job safety.

Jobless claims dropped by 9,000 to 211,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which strips out week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 3,500 to 223,250.

The overall numbers receiving unemployment benefits fell by 52,000 to 1.84 million.

The U.S. job economy has cooled considerably from the red-warm hiring days of 2021-2023 when the economy was bounding back from COVID-19 lockdowns.

Through November, employers added an average of 180,000 jobs a month in 2024, down from 251,000 in 2023, 377,000 in 2022 and a record 604,000 in 2021. Still, even the diminished job creation is solid and a sign of resilience in the face of high gain rates.

When the Labor Department releases hiring numbers for December on Jan. 10, they’re expected to display that employers added 160,000 jobs last month.

The weekly jobless claims numbers are a proxy for layoffs, and those have remained below pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate is at a modest 4.2%, though that is up from a half century low 3.4% reached in 2023.

To fight expense boost that hit four-decade highs two and a half years ago, the Federal safety net raised its standard gain rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023. expense boost came down — from 9.1% in mid-2022 to 2.7% in November, allowing the Fed to commence cutting rates. But advancement on expense boost has stalled in recent months, and year-over-year buyer worth increases are stuck above the Fed’s 2% target.

At its December conference, the Fed went ahead and cut its standard gain rate for the third period in 2024. But the central lender’s policymakers signaled that they’re likely to be more cautious about upcoming rate cuts: They projected just two in 2025, down from the four they had envisioned in September.