For US workers, the risk of losing a job remained historically low as employers shed few staff and kept claims for unemployment benefits near their lowest level in decades.
Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray and Christmas, said employers were retaining their existing workers before the holidays while focusing new recruitment on temporary roles. “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,” he said. “Companies want the flexibility to meet holiday demand without adding permanent headcount,” Challenger added.
The Labour Department said on Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 189,000 in the week ended October 31. The figure matched the level reached in mid-July, the lowest reading since 1969, and came below economists’ forecast of 196,000.
Claims have remained mostly below 200,000 since mid-September. Economists describe the broader picture as a “low-hire, low-fire” labour market.
The count of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits rose 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.718 million in the week ended October 24.
Separate figures on employers’ plans showed 43,994 announced job cuts in October. That was 2% higher than in September, though 71% lower than in October 2025 and the lowest total for any October since 2023.
Employers also announced plans to hire 444,692 workers in October, up 57% from October 2025 and the highest level for any October since 2009.
There were 1.06 open jobs for every unemployed person in September, compared with 1.02 in August. The unemployment rate stood at 4.2% in September and was forecast to remain at 4.2.
The government’s October employment report was due on Friday. Economists surveyed expected nonfarm payrolls to have increased by 65,000 jobs last month, after rising 29,000 in September.
A Conference Board survey released on Tuesday found consumers had become more optimistic about the labour market in October. Nonfarm productivity increased at a 3.6% annualized rate in the third quarter, following an upwardly revised 2.1% pace in the second quarter.
The Federal Reserve left its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.75%-4.00% range on Wednesday and said inflation “remains elevated”. Kevin Warsh, the Fed chairman, told reporters that “on the employment side of the Fed's dual mandate, conditions are quite positive”.
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