Jobless Claims Drop as Impact of Hurricanes and Strike Fades

Jobless claims dropped last week after spiking in October due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and a strike at Boeing.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 4,000 during the week ended Saturday (Nov. 9).

The total of 217,000 initial claims filed during the week was down from the previous week’s 221,000, the Department of Labor (DOL) said in a Thursday (Nov. 14) press release.

The four-week moving average of 221,000 was 6,250 lower than the previous week’s 227,250, according to the release.

The drop in initial claims during the week was not expected by economists polled by Reuters; they had forecast 223,000 claims.

The drop marked a turnaround from the surge in claims that was seen in October after the hurricanes and the strike at Boeing, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Overall, layoffs remain historically low, according to the report.

Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected to see 220,000 applications during the week.

The data has been volatile due to the hurricanes and strike, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

“After the Boeing Co. strike was resolved earlier this month, temporary layoffs or partial unemployment experienced by workers along the supply chain will likely unwind,” Eliza Winger, economist at Bloomberg, said in the report.

“However, jobless claims will still come under pressure ahead from Boeing’s announcement that it will cut about 17k workers in mid-January,” Winger said. “Together with job cuts at Stellantis NV, that suggests claims could spike in January.”

In comments supplied to the DOL, the state with the greatest decrease in the number of initial claims filed during the week ended Nov. 2, Florida, attributed the change to fewer layoffs in four industries: agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; manufacturing; wholesale trade; and retail trade, according to the press release.

The state with the greatest increase in initial claims during that week, California, did not submit comments to the DOL. Those with the second and third greatest increases — Michigan and Ohio — pointed to layoffs in the manufacturing industry.

The DOL also reported Thursday that the insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ended Nov. 2, unchanged from the previous week.

The insured unemployment number for that week was 1,873,000, which was 11,000 lower than the previous week’s revised figure of 1,884,000, per the release. The figure for the previous week was revised down by 8,000.