Key facts
- Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 196,000 initial claims for the week ended October 31.
- Challenger, Gray and Christmas said planned layoffs dropped 71% from October 2025 and were the lowest for any October since 2023.
- Employers announced plans to hire 444,692 workers in October, a 57% jump from October 2025, Challenger said.
- Continuing claims rose 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.718 million in the week ended October 24.
- The government reported 1.06 open jobs for every unemployed person in September, up from 1.02 in August.
- A Reuters survey of economists showed nonfarm payrolls likely rose 65,000 in October after 29,000 in September.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 189,000 for the week ended October 31, the Labor Department said on November 5. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 196,000. Claims matched the 189,000 level touched in mid-July, which was the lowest reading since 1969, and have stayed mostly below 200,000 since mid-September.
A separate report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas on November 5 showed US-based employers announced 43,994 job cuts in October, up 2% from September. Planned layoffs dropped 71% compared with October 2025 and were the lowest for any October since 2023. Employers announced plans to hire 444,692 workers last month, a 57% jump from October 2025 and the highest for any October since 2009, likely mostly seasonal jobs.
"Employers are holding on to the workers they have heading into the holidays, and the hiring they are announcing is largely short-term, seasonal work," said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "Companies want the flexibility to meet holiday demand without adding permanent headcount."
The claims report showed continuing claims, a proxy for hiring, increased 23,000 to a still-low seasonally adjusted 1.718 million in the week ended October 24. Continuing claims do not include some unemployed people, including recent college graduates and others with little or no work history, and some may have exhausted eligibility, limited to 26 weeks in most states.
The government reported this week that there were 1.06 open jobs for every unemployed person in September, up from 1.02 in August. Some economists argued that was a sign of the labor market starting to tighten, while others viewed the low level of jobless claims as a function of a smaller labor force amid an immigration crackdown rather than fewer job cuts.
The claims report has no bearing on the government's employment report for October due on Friday because it falls outside the survey period. Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 65,000 jobs last month after rising 29,000 in September, a Reuters survey of economists showed, with the unemployment rate forecast unchanged at 4.2%.