US labour market holds firm as weekly lay-offs tumble to 57-year low

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment slipped to a 57-year last week as lay-offs remained low against the backdrop of a resilient labour market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 189,000 for the week ended October 31, the Labour Department ‌said on Thursday. Economists had forecast 196,000 claims for the latest week.

Claims matched the 189,000 level touched in mid-July, which was the lowest reading since 1969. They have stayed mostly below 200,000 since mid-September.

Low lay-offs, thanks to strong domestic demand and profit growth, are anchoring the labour market, with hiring still constrained by uncertainty over the dragging US-Israeli war with Iran.

The government reported this week that there were 1.06 open jobs for every unemployed person in September, ⁠up from 1.02 in August, which some economists argued was a sign of the labour market starting to tighten. Others, however, viewed ‌the low level of jobless claims as a function of a smaller labour force amid an immigration crackdown, rather than fewer job cuts.

A separate report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas on ‌Thursday showed US-based employers announced 43,994 job cuts in October, up 2 per cent from September. Planned lay-offs dropped 71 per cent ⁠compared to October 2025.

Despite the rise over the month, lay-offs were the lowest for any October since 2023. Employers announced plans to hire 444,692 workers last month, a 57 per cent jump from October 2025. Hiring plans were the highest for any October since 2009, and 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 and Christmas. “Companies want the flexibility ‌to meet holiday demand without adding permanent headcount.”

The reluctance to increase permanent hiring means some unemployed people are experiencing long periods of ⁠joblessness.

The claims report showed the number of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased ⁠23,000 to a still-low seasonally adjusted 1.718 million during the week ended October 24. The so-called continuing claims, however, do not include some unemployed people, including recent college graduates and others who have little or no work history.

Some ‌people might also have exhausted their ‌eligibility for benefits, limited to 26 weeks in most states, keeping continuing claims at relatively low levels.

The claims report has no bearing on the government’s closely watched employment report for October due on Friday as it falls outside the survey period. Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 65,000 jobs last month after rising 29,000 in September, a survey of economists showed. The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 4.2.