US jobless claims increase from 52-year low

ANKARA

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims increased by 28,000 to 222,000 last week, up from its lowest level in 52 years, according to US Department of Labor data released on Thursday.

Analysts expected the figure to reach 240,000 for the week ending Nov. 27.

The previous week's level was revised down by 5,000 from 199,000 to 194,000 when it hit the lowest level since 1969.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.6% in October, down from 4.8% in September, according to the latest figures of the Department of Labor.

The US added 531,000 jobs in October, but 7.4 million people are still out of work as of last month in the world's largest economy, where more than 22 million workers lost jobs in March and April of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.