Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert at The Century Foundation (TCF) noted that new unemployment claims are now at their highest level since early September (2025).

“These totals don’t include an additional 12,732 former federal workers who are also now relying on unemployment benefits, as the number of federal workers on UI has stayed at levels not seen since the pandemic, even after the government shutdown has ended,” Stettner said.

“This disappointing news comes on the heels of other troubling labor market data,” he continued, pointing to private-sector payroll figures showing the US economy lost 32,000 jobs in November. “With hiring still so weak, it is no surprise that the percentage of workers feeling confident enough to quit their job dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020. In fact, our polling shows that 27% of Americans said they took on a ‘second job, side hustle, or gig work’ in the past year to help make ends meet.”