268,000 New Jobless Claims Filed Last Week

New weekly jobless claims are slightly higher than expected but still representing a new pandemic-era low, with the weekly rate of those rendered newly out of work coming closer to pre-coronavirus levels.

The Labor Department released its jobless claims report Thursday. The main figures from the report refer to initial unemployment claims, week ended November 13: 268,000 versus 260,000 expected and an upwardly revised 269,000 during prior week

Continuing claims, week ended November 5: 2.080 million versus 2.120 million expected and an upwardly revised 2.209 million during prior week

First time unemployment claims held below the psychologically important 300,000 level for the sixth successive week.

The steady move lower in jobless claims over the past several months has underscored continued improvement in the labor market’s recovery, especially on the demand side as employers look to hold onto workers.