Weekly Jobless Claims at Lowest in 42 Years

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Last week’s jobless claims reached an all-time low in 42 years, according to the Labor Department on Wednesday.

The number of “seasonally adjusted initial claims was 199,000, a decrease of 71,000 from the previous” week, according to the department. It is the lowest figure of weekly “claims since Nov. 15, 1969, when it was 197,000.”

Additionally, according to the Labor Department:

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent for the week ending November 13, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised up by 0.1 from 1.5 to 1.6 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 13 was 2,049,000, a decrease of 60,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,770,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 29,000 from 2,080,000 to 2,109,000.

Finally, the four-week moving average last week decreased 47,500 from the previous week to 2,117,000 jobs.

While these numbers may be encouraging, the Biden administration has come under fire over economic issues such as inflation, which has led to increases in prices especially amid the holiday season. Additionally, the administration has had to deal with supply chain crisis, though signs have shown that it is easing.