The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined for the third consecutive week to a seven-month low, according to Department of Labor data released on Nov. 26.
For the week ending Nov. 22, initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 216,000—the lowest level since mid-April—from the previous week’s reading of 222,000.
The market consensus indicated a reading of 225,000.
New claims data might be surprising, as scores of companies, such as Amazon, HP, and Verizon, have announced layoffs in the past several weeks.
The four-week average, which strips out week-to-week volatility, slipped to 223,750 from an upwardly revised 224,750 in the previous week.
Federal worker jobless claims fell by nearly 4,000 from the previous week, coming in at 1,724, reflecting the end of the U.S. government shutdown. Economists are closely watching this figure to assess whether the Trump administration’s policies and the Department of Government Efficiency’s measures have had a significant impact on government payrolls….