WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in more than three years during Thanksgiving week, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve\u2019s upcoming decision on interest rates.<\/p>\n
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits for the week ending Nov. 29 fell to 191,000 from the previous week\u2019s 218,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That\u2019s the lowest level since September 24, 2022, when claims came in at 189,000. Analysts surveyed by the data provider FactSet had forecast initial claims of 221,000.<\/p>\n
Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, said that unemployment benefit filings are often distorted by the Thanksgiving holiday, which can cause some people who may have lost jobs to delay filing claims.<\/p>\n
Still, the low claims figure also suggests that overall layoffs remain muted, despite the high-profile announcements. Hiring is also sluggish, which makes finding a job for those out of work challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe labor market is kind of frozen,\u201d Bostjancic said. \u201cCompanies are in wait-and-see mode.\u201d<\/p>\n
Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. The job cuts announced recently by large companies such as UPS<\/a>, General Motors<\/a>, Amazon<\/a> and Verizon<\/a> typically take weeks or months to fully implement and may not be reflected in Thursday\u2019s data. <\/p>\n For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in a \u201clow-hire, low-fire\u201d<\/a> state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low. <\/p>\n On Wednesday, private payroll data firm ADP estimated U.S. job losses of 32,000 in November. The surprisingly weak report may be discouraging for people looking for jobs, but it bolstered expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate next week. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear how much weight this week\u2019s layoff figures will carry with the Fed as the numbers can be volatile and prone to revisions.<\/p>\n Complicating the Fed\u2019s upcoming decision is inflation, which remains above the central bank\u2019s 2% target. The Fed\u2019s preferred measure of inflation will be released in a government report on Friday and will also be factored into its rate call on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Two weeks ago, the government said that hiring picked up a bit in September<\/a>, when employers added 119,000 new jobs. That mixed report, which also showed employers had shed jobs in August, was delayed due to the government shutdown. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%, its highest level in four years.<\/p>\n November\u2019s comprehensive jobs data has been delayed for release until later this month, after the Fed\u2019s meeting, also due to the government shutdown.<\/p>\n The government also recently reported that retail sales slowed<\/a> in September after three months of healthy increases. <\/p>\n