Chicago Fed sees November unemployment rate steady at 4.4% as alternate data shows job losses

By Howard Schneider

WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged around 4.4% in November, the Chicago Federal Reserve estimated on Thursday, while closely watched data from a private provider added to the evidence that the U.S. labor market is slowly weakening.

With official unemployment reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics still delayed following the government shutdown in October and November, the new reports could add weight to arguments at next week’s Federal Reserve meeting in favor of cutting the benchmark policy rate another quarter of a percentage point.

The BLS would typically issue its employment report for November on Friday, but has delayed it until December 16, after the Fed meets on December 9-10.

The Chicago Fed derives its jobless rate e