U.S. unemployment claims plummet

In the week ending Nov. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims in the U.S. was 466,000, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised figure. The four-week moving average was 496,500, a decrease of 16,500 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.1 percent for the week ending Nov. 14, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Nov. 14 was 5.423 million, a decrease of 190,000 from the preceding week’s revised level. The four-week moving average was approximately 5.614 million, a decrease of 98,500 from the preceding week’s revised average.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.866 million.