US Unemployment Claims Fall, After Increasing for 2 Weeks

Unemployment claims turned lower in the last week of November, after increasing for 2 weeks

Written by: Skerdian Meta • Thursday, December 3, 2020 • 1 min read

• Last updated: Thursday, December 3, 2020

The trend continues to decline for jobless claims

Unemployment claims surged in the US during March and April, when most businesses closed during the pandemic. The number of unemployed US citizens shoot higher above 40 million at some point, while the unemployment rate increased to 20% unofficially. It started coming down after the reopening in May, but in the previous two weeks jobless claims increased again. Today’s report though is showing a decline, which is a positive thing for the USD at this difficult moment.

Weekly claims for jobless benefits

Initial jobless claims 712K vs 775K expected
Prior claims was 778K (revised to 787K)
Continuing claims 5,520K vs 5,800K expected
Prior continuing claims 6,071K
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending November 14 was 20,163,477, a decrease of 349,633 from the previous week. There were 1,573,485 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019.
PUA claimants 8,869,502 vs 9,147,753 prior

There is some improvement in the numbers across the board but these numbers are still staggering relative to pre-pandemic. The USD hasn’t taken advantage of these numbers since they are still quite high compared to normal times, but they ar heading in the right direction at least.

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Skerdian Meta

Lead Analyst

Skerdian Meta Lead Analyst. Skerdian is a professional Forex trader and a market analyst. He has been actively engaged in market analysis for the past 11 years. Before becoming our head analyst, Skerdian served as a trader and market analyst in Saxo Bank's local branch, Aksioner. Skerdian specialized in experimenting with developing models and hands-on trading. Skerdian has a masters degree in finance and investment.