Job Search Station (Photo: Reuters)
The Labor Department reported on Thursday that weekly jobless claims rose by 6,000 to 278,000 last week, higher than the median forecast. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to 271,000 week ending February 20.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing last week’s claims data, and no state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending February 6. Claims for Oklahoma were been estimated for the report, and the prior week was unchanged at 272,000.
The four-week moving average–which is widely considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility–decreased by 1,750 to 270,250 last week. That’s the lowest level since late November even as the weekly jobless claims number increased.
Weekly jobless claim, or the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits at the state level, have now been below the 300,000 threshold for 52 straight weeks. While this is historically associated with healthy labor market conditions and, is the longest period since the early 1970s, the number of long-term unemployment Americans is an underreported factor. Because a large number of Americans are simply not eligible to receive unemployment benefits anymore, the situation appears somewhat brighter than it truly is.
Weekly Jobless Claims Report Data
There were 14,541 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending February 6, an increase of 575 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 15,365, a decrease of 368 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 6 were in Alaska (4.7), West Virginia (3.6), New Jersey (3.4), Montana (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.2), Illinois (3.0), Rhode Island (3.0), Wyoming (3.0), Connecticut (2.9), Massachusetts (2.8), and Puerto Rico (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 13 were in Wisconsin (+387), Minnesota (+106), New Mexico (+77), the Virgin Islands (+-4), and Kentucky (+-22), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (- 3,739), Illinois (-2,349), Texas (-2,342), New York (-1,984), and Tennessee (-1,651).
