Weekly Jobless Claims Graphic. Number of Americans applying for first-time jobless benefits.
The Labor Department said Thursday weekly jobless claims rose by 1,000 to 260,000 last week, missing the median forecast calling for 265,000. The prior week was unchanged at 259,000.
The four-week moving average–which is widely viewed as a better gauge–was 260,750, a decrease of 500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 261,250.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims and no state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending August 27. While this marks 80 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1970, the pool of eligible applicants due to long-term unemployment is also the smallest in decades.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 27 were in New Jersey (2.8), Puerto Rico (2.7), Alaska (2.6), Connecticut (2.6), Pennsylvania (2.4), California (2.1), Rhode Island (2.1), Massachusetts (2.0), and West Virginia (1.9).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 3 were in Illinois (+3,924), Pennsylvania (+1,634), Texas (+1,439), Washington (+1,044), and Ohio (+641), while the largest decreases were in New York (-3,250), Michigan (-2,224), Louisiana (-1,612), Virginia (-799), and Florida (-322).
