Jobless Claims Rose Last Week But Remained Near Decades-Low

New applications for unemployment benefits edged higher last week but stayed very low, reflecting an unusually tight labor market as the economy continued to recover.

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, inched up by 18,000 to 206,000 for the week ended Dec. 11 from a revised 188,000—the lowest level in 52 years—the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday. New jobless claims have been steadily declining throughout the year.

Last week’s four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility, fell to 203,750, the lowest since November 1969.

“It’s a tight labor market because of quits and a reluctance to go back to work, which are mainly because of Covid,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

Employers are holding on to their workers as millions of people continue to quit their jobs. In October alone, 4.2 million quit—a slight decrease from the month before, but still higher than before the pandemic. The gap between available jobs and unemployed people actively seeking work has persisted to the point where there were about four million more open positions than people seeking work in October.