Weekly Jobless Claims Decline to 52-Year Low in the Week Ending December 4, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 184,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, December 4, 2021 — a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since September 6, 1969, when it was 182,000. The 4-week moving average was 218,750 — a decrease of 21,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 7, 2020, when it was 215,250.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (known as continuing claims) during the week ending November 27, 2021, was 1,992,000 — a decrease of 107,000 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 2,027,500 — a decrease of 54,200 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 1.5% for the week ending November 27, 2021 — an increase of 0.1% from the previous week’s unrevised rate.