Weekly Jobless Claims Decline Further in the Week Ending November 20, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 199,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, November 20, 2021. This is a decrease of 71,000 from the previous week’s revised level, and it’s the lowest level for initial job claims since November 15, 1969, when it was 197,000. The 4-week moving average was 252,250 — a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020, when it was 225,500.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (known as continuing claims) during the week ending November 13, 2021 was 2,049,000 — a decrease of 60,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,770,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,117,000 — a decrease of 47,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 21, 2020, when it was 2,071,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5% for the week ending November 13, 2021, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s revised rate.