Initial filings for unemployment for the week rose to 231,000 for the week ending Nov. 11. That’s an increase of 13,000 from the previous week and a three-month high for new claims, according to data released Thursday from the Department of Labor.
According to economists, the news suggests that market conditions are cooling in response to interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in an attempt to slow the economy. The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times since March 2022. Earlier this month, it paused further rate hikes.
“The claims data are consistent with a job market that is cooling enough to keep rate hikes off the table, but too strong to make rate cuts a consideration any time soon,” said economist Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics, as reported by CBS News and other media outlets. “The Fed is surely encouraged by recent inflation data but needs to see a further slowdown in the labor market and wage growth to be persuaded that inflation is on a sustainable path back to 2%.”
The Labor Department reported that the advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 215,874 in the week ending Nov. 11. That’s an increase of 1,713 (0.8%) claims from the previous week. There were 200,237 initial claims in the comparable week in 2022.
The agency issued guidance last week to states on how to promote equitable access for all workers and job seekers to unemployment insurance programs.
“Ensuring equitable access to unemployment insurance benefits gives workers and their families peace of mind by providing economic stability in the face of job loss,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Brent Parton said in a statement. The guidance, he said, is meant to offer “actionable methods to remove long-standing barriers to accessing unemployment insurance programs.”
