Headline Roundup • November 18th, 2021
Jobless Claims Fall for 7th Consecutive Week
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of Americans filing for jobless claims fell for the seventh week in a row, down to 268,000 last week.
This is a new pandemic low, and reports across the spectrum suggest that the economy is continuing to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, businesses are struggling to keep up with demand and have reported difficulties in hiring new employees as people quit in record numbers. While some workers seek better opportunities, many businesses are trying to retain the employees they already have.
Outlets across the spectrum covered the news Friday, and most framed the data positively regardless of their bias rating.
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PHOTO: BRETT CARLSEN/GETTY IMAGES
Jobless claims hovered above pre-pandemic levels last week as employers avoid layoffs and many workers quit or remain sidelined in a tight labor market.
Initial claims for jobless benefits edged down to seasonally adjusted 268,000 last week from a revised 269,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims are at the lowest level since the pandemic hit the U.S. economy last spring and are gradually drifting down toward pre-pandemic levels.
Though worker filings for unemployment benefits remain above their 2019 weekly average of 218,000, the recovery in claims...
DAVID ZALUBOWSKI/AP
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment fell to 268,000 last week as the labor market continues its steady recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
The four-week moving average was 272,750, down 5,750 from the prior four-week average.
The number was above expectations of 260,000 and slightly below the revised 269,000 from the prior week.
The labor market has shown signs of strength lately, with jobless claims under 300,000 and 531,000 new jobs added in October. Meanwhile, revisions to prior months added more...
Fox Business
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped to a new pandemic low last week as the job market continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show that applications for the week ended Nov. 13 fell to 268,000 from a revised 269,000 a week earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had projected the number of first-time filings to decline to 260,000.
It marked the best level of jobless claims since March 14, 2020, when there were 256,000 applicants just as COVID-19 began to shut down...
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