The U.S. Department of Labor has released its latest unemployment insurance claims data, showing a decrease in seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending November 15, 2025. The advance figure stood at 220,000, down by 8,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average also saw a decline to 224,250, marking a reduction of 3,000 from the prior week's average.
For the week ending November 8, the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained steady at 1.3 percent. However, the number of insured unemployed individuals rose to 1,974,000—an increase of 28,000 compared to the previous week and the highest level since November 6, 2021. The four-week moving average reached its peak since November 20, 2021.
Unadjusted data revealed that actual initial claims under state programs totaled 216,671 for the week ending November 15—a drop of over nine percent from the preceding week. This decrease exceeded seasonal expectations. Comparatively, there were slightly fewer claims during the same period in 2024.
The unadjusted insured unemployment rate held at 1.1 percent for the week ending November 8. Despite this stability in rate percentage, there was an increase in volume to a total of approximately 1.73 million people receiving benefits under state programs.
In terms of specific groups and programs: former federal civilian employees filed fewer initial claims totaling at just over five thousand; newly discharged veterans also filed fewer claims compared to previous weeks.
Among states with high insured unemployment rates for early November were New Jersey and Washington leading with rates above two percent each. California experienced one of the largest increases in initial claims while Kentucky saw significant decreases.
Further details can be accessed through their official website: https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp
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