US Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Fall to Lowest Level Since April

Continuing claims remain above 1.9 million for six straight months.

A now-hiring sign at a restaurant in St. George, Utah, on Sept. 15, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

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.

Continuing jobless claims—the number of unemployed individuals currently receiving benefits—rose by 7,000 to 1.96 million.

This metric has remained above 1.9 million since the middle of May, highlighting the challenges out-of-work individuals are having in finding new employment.

Navigating the Labor Market

Recent data suggest employment conditions are mixed, with the nonfarm payrolls report confirming 119,000 new jobs in September. However, payroll processor ADP reported that private businesses eliminated an average of 13,500 jobs per week in the past four weeks.

Due to the government shutdown, the October jobs report has been canceled, and the November employment data will not be released until late December.

Regardless of trends in the numbers, consumers are also recording growing consternation surrounding the labor market.

The Conference Board’s November Consumer Confidence Index revealed diminishing confidence in current and future jobs, income, and financial institutions.

“The labor market differential—the share of consumers who say jobs are ‘plentiful’ minus the share saying ‘hard to get’—dipped again in November after a brief respite in October from its year-to-date decline,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board.

But Joe Lavorgna, counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is “very confident” that stalling employment conditions will reverse next year.

“If our forecast is right and we’re very confident in ‘26, the labor market is going to turn for everybody, especially the new graduates,” Lavorgna told CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime” on Nov. 25.

New Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that 9.7 percent of bachelor’s degree holders aged 20 to 24 were unemployed in September, up from 6.8 percent in the previous year.

With concerns about artificial intelligence running rampant across the national labor market, researchers have questioned the economic and professional advantages of holding a college degree.

Cleveland Federal Reserve economists determined that while having a university or college diploma still provides an edge, the benefit is gradually eroding.

“The labor market advantages conferred by a college degree have historically justified individual investment in higher education and expanding support for college access,” they said in a recent paper.

“If the job-finding rate of college graduates continues to decline relative to the rate for high school graduates, we may see a reversal of these trends.”

A woman walks past a Black Friday sales sign at a mall in Columbia, Md., on Nov. 24, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

A survey of U.S. employers, released earlier this month, found that 2026 could be the most challenging job market for college graduates since the pandemic.

Meanwhile, as the busy Christmas shopping season approaches, fresh data suggest that seasonal hiring is picking up and outpacing last year’s levels, according to Indeed Hiring Labor data.

As of Nov. 14, the level of seasonal job postings rose to 11 percent above 2024 levels.

“The strength relative to last year suggests that businesses are feeling relatively confident about consumer spending as they head into the holiday season. But there are also signs of skepticism and a reluctance to hire for the longer term that are lurking just below the surface,” Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, wrote in the report.