US jobless claims fall by 33,000
Jobless claims in the US dropped by 33,000 last week, hitting 231,000—returning to levels seen throughout this year and close to the pre-pandemic trend.
This sharp fall reverses last week's spike and brings numbers closer to what we saw before the pandemic.
Continuing claims also went down to 1.92 million, suggesting some stability in the job market, even as there are signs of weakness.
Claims drop in states like Texas and Connecticut
The earlier surge in claims was mostly due to holiday data quirks and some fraud cases (especially in Texas), but those issues seem to have settled down now.
Even though hiring has slowed a bit, most companies aren't laying off workers. To help with any job market stress, the Federal Reserve recently cut interest rates.
States like Texas and Connecticut saw big drops in claims too, helping pull the national average back toward normal levels.