American applications for jobless benefits plummeted to their lowest level in over three years last week, according to the Associated Press.
For the week ending Nov. 29, the Labor Department reported that the number of new U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to 191,000 from the prior week’s 218,000.
That’s the lowest level since Sept. 24, 2022, when the number of claims was 189,000.
The report also showed that the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 9,500 to 214,750.
The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Nov. 22 dipped by 4,000 to 1.94 million, the government said.
The U.S. job market appears to remain stuck in a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has carried a historically low unemployment rate but has made it harder for those out of work to find a new job.
The news comes after private payroll data firm ADP on Wednesday estimated U.S. job losses of 32,000 in November, and it comes ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next decision on interest rates, set for next week.
