Jobless Claims Fall Far More than Expected for Week Ending November 30

The advance estimate for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 203,000 for the week ending November 30, easily beating the forecasts. That’s a decline of 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level.

The 4-week moving average was 217,750, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 219,750.

Forecasts ranged from a low of 215,000 to a high of 226,000. The consensus forecast was 218,000. No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending November 16.

Lagging Jobless Claims Data

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate ticked up slightly to a still low 1.2% for the week ending November 23. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 23 was 1,693,000 and the 4-week moving average was 1,681,000.

State Jobless Claims Data

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 16 were in Alaska (2.8), Puerto Rico (2.1), New Jersey (2.0), California (1.7), West Virginia (1.7), Connecticut (1.6), Pennsylvania (1.6), Montana (1.5), Washington (1.5), Illinois (1.4), Massachusetts (1.4), and the Virgin Islands (1.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 23 were in California (+8,384), Pennsylvania (+5,065), New York (+2,993), Georgia (+1,846), and Texas (+1,804), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-2,723), Ohio (-871), Iowa (-785), Oklahoma (-689), and Louisiana (-199).