US Jobless Claims Fall To Lowest Level Since April

• The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, fell by 1,000 to 223,750.
• Continuing claims, which refer to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits beyond the first week, hovered in the 1.96 million range, rising marginally by 750 over the previous week.

Weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest levels since April, coming in lower than Wall Street estimates.

According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 216,000 in the week ended November 26. This was higher than a Dow Jones estimate of 225,000, as cited by MarketWatch.

The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, fell by 1,000 to 223,750.

Continuing Claims Edge Up

Continuing claims, which refer to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits beyond the first week, hovered in the 1.96 million range, rising marginally by 750 over the previous week.

The largest increase in claims came from Kentucky at 589, followed by Minnesota at 351, whereas the most significant decrease in claims was from Michigan at 5,290 and New Jersey at 2,381.

Reversal In Hiring

U.S. companies cut 13,500 jobs per week on average over four weeks ending November 8, adding to concerns of labor market weakness.

The data, released as part of a preliminary estimate in ADP’s National Employment Report, shows a reversal in hiring trends over the past week. According to last week’s ADP NER report, U.S. companies added 2,500 jobs per week over four weeks ending November 1.

The latest report comes weeks before the Federal Reserve is set to decide on its monetary policy direction and take a call on whether a rate cut in December is needed.

According to data from the CME FedWatch tool, there is an 83.1% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut in December, up from 30.1% a week ago.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities gained in Wednesday’s opening trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up by 0.64%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) rose 0.75%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.55%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bearish’ territory.

The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) was down by 0.16% at the time of writing.

Also See: AMD Stock Extends Decline In Pre-Market On Meta’s Reported Interest In Google’s TPUs – Mizuho Warns Of A ‘Modest Challenge’

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