The number of initial jobless claims in the United States last week was 221,000, lower than expected

Last week, the number of initial unemployment claims in the United States saw a slight increase, but the number of layoffs remains at a historical low.

On November 7th, Thursday, data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that for the week ending November 2nd, the number of first-time unemployment claims was 221,000, lower than the expected 222,000 and higher than the previous value of 216,000.

Among them, California, Michigan, and Ohio saw the largest increases in unemployment claims, while Florida and Georgia experienced a decline in unemployment claims.

After the release of the initial claims data, U.S. stock index futures slightly retreated, with Dow futures narrowing their intraday gains to 0.02%, and S&P 500 futures currently up 0.17%.

The four-week average number of claims decreased by 9,750 to 227,250, smoothing out short-term fluctuations.

However, for the week ending October 26th, the number of continuing unemployment claims increased by 39,000 to 1.89 million, reaching the highest level since the end of 2021. Analysts believe this may have been influenced by last month's hurricane and ongoing strikes. However, analysts also pointed out that the disruptions caused by the hurricane have almost dissipated, and striking workers have returned to their jobs after agreeing to a new contract this week, which paves the way for accelerated job growth in November.

Additionally, Federal Reserve officials are expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points after the two-day policy meeting on Thursday