Initial jobless claims fall to their lowest level since 1969

If you’re not a Better.com employee, then the chances you got laid off last week are slim.

Initial jobless claims, which reflect the pace of layoffs in the US, dropped to 184,000 last week. We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969 (literally—it’s the lowest jobless claims number in 52 years).

What’s it mean? Employers are afraid to boot workers because finding new ones to replace them has become a massive challenge. That’s because…

• The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% last month, the lowest since the pandemic began.
• There were more than 11 million job openings in October, compared to 6.9 million people who were unemployed but looking for work. That’s the lowest ratio of unemployed people to job openings on record, according to ZipRecruiter.

Side note: Jobless claims are harder to nail down accurately during the holiday season, so economists expect revisions of these numbers to appear in the weeks ahead.

But, seasonal fluctuations aside, the data presents a clear message: The job market is humming and only getting better after being devastated in 2020.—NF