The number of people filing new unemployment claims fell by 10,000 in the latest week, with 201,000 Initial Jobless Claims reported. Continuing Claims rose by 33,000, as 1.867 million people are still receiving benefits after filing their initial claim.
What’s the bottom line?
People often put off filing for unemployment if they’re traveling or busy during the holidays. This could have skewed both sets of data as Initial Jobless Claims measured the week with New Year’s Eve/Day while Continuing Claims measured the previous week that included Christmas.
However, the slowdown in hiring we’ve seen has been persistent, with Continuing Claims now topping 1.8 million for 31 consecutive weeks. This also suggests people are experiencing longer bouts of unemployment as new job opportunities havebecome harder to find.