US Initial Jobless Claims Hold at Tame Levels

2025-11-20 13:45 By Andre Joaquim 1 min. read

Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 8,000 from the previous week to 220,000 on the period ending November 15th, remaining well below the averages since the end of the second quarter.

The latest data release included a batch of updates on claim counts after the Department of Labor halted part of its operations due to the US government shutdown in the first day of October, which risked the employment standing for a large portion of Federal government workers.

Despite the softer unemployment growth reflected by initial claims, outstanding claims rose to 1.974 million by November 8th, the highest since 2021, to reflect a slowdown in hiring activity.

In the meantime, initial unemployment claims filed by Federal workers surged to 5,719 on the week to November 8th, compared to 635 from September.



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