Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending December 11, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 206,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, December 11, 2021. This is an increase of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 203,750 — a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since November 15, 1969, when it was 202,750.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (known as continuing claims) during the week ending December 4, 2021 was 1,845,000 — a decrease of 154,000 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 1,963,250 — a decrease of 66,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,730,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4% for the week ending December 4, 2021 — a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s unrevised rate.