US unemployment claims fell to 189,000 at the beginning of last week, the lowest since mid-July

The Zhitong Finance App learned that data released by the US Department of Labor on November 5 shows that for the week ending October 31, the number of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 189,000, lower than market expectations of 196,000. The previous value was raised from 194,000 to 195,000.

This number hit its lowest level since mid-July. Previously, jobless claims hit 187,000 people in early July, a low of nearly 60 years since 1969. This data is back in this low range, showing that US corporate layoffs are still restrained, and the labor market continues to be resilient.

The four-week moving average, which was less volatile, fell to 194.75 thousand, and was 197,000 after the previous week's correction, continuing the slow decline for almost a month. However, the number of renewed jobless claims for the week ending October 24 rose to 1,718,000, higher than market expectations of 1.71 million. The previous week was 1.695,000; the insured unemployment rate remained flat at 1.1%. There has been a slight recovery in the number of renewals, which means that the rate at which some unemployed people are returning to employment has slowed slightly, but it is still near the low level in recent years.

Initial jobless claims are a high-frequency measure of the health of the US job market, and are generally regarded as a forward-looking reference for official non-farm payrolls data. This Friday (November 6), the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the October Nonfarm Payroll Report. At that time, it will provide a more authoritative judgment on labor market trends.