US initial jobless claims climb to 200,000, four-week average remains unchanged

US weekly unemployment claims increased by 9,000 to 200,000 in the week ending November 7, according to data released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday.

US weekly unemployment claims increased by 9,000 to 200,000 in the week ending November 7, according to data released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday. The latest figures showed that seasonally adjusted initial claims rose from the previous week's revised level of 191,000, while the four-week moving average remained unchanged at 195,250.

The Labor Department stated, "In the week ending November 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 200,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level." The previous week's initial claims figure was revised upward by 2,000 from 189,000 to 191,000. The four-week moving average for the previous week was also revised upward by 500 to 195,250.

Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted insured unemployment declined by 20,000 to 1,697,000 in the week ending October 31, compared with the previous week's revised level of 1,717,000. "The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for the week ending October 31, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate," the department said.

The four-week moving average for insured unemployment decreased by 1,500 to 1,707,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,709,250. On an unadjusted basis, initial unemployment claims under state programmes increased by 28,870, or 16.2 per cent, to 206,982 in the week ending November 7.

The release noted, "The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 19,663 (or 11.0 percent) from the previous week." In comparison, 238,729 initial claims were recorded during the corresponding week in 2025.

Unadjusted insured unemployment increased by 10,117 to 1,503,556 in the week ending October 31, while the insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.0 per cent. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits across all programmes stood at 1,517,924 in the week ending October 24, an increase of 10,207 from the previous week.

The department's data also showed that New Jersey recorded the highest insured unemployment rate at 2.0 per cent, followed by Washington at 1.9 per cent and Massachusetts at 1.8 per cent. (ANI)