Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Sharply Ahead of April Jobs Report

The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time jobless claims fell 19,000 to 238,000 for the week ending April 29, topping expectations before the jobs report. While week-to-week volatility has been painting a rocky picture, the trend in jobless claims is clearly favorable.

The 4-week moving average was 243,000, an increase of just 750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 242,250. Continuing claims also remain very favorable, down 23,000 in lagging data for the April 22 week with this 4-week average down a sizable 18,000 to 1.989 million. The unemployment rate for insured workers (which excludes job leavers and re-entrants) is steady at a very low 1.4%.

The report is positive ahead of the April jobs report, which is forecast to show non-farm payrolls expanded by 185,000 for the month.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 15 were in Alaska (3.5), Puerto Rico (2.7), Connecticut (2.6), New Jersey (2.6), California (2.3), Illinois (2.1), Pennsylvania (2.1), Massachusetts (2.0), Rhode Island (2.0), and New York (1.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 22 were in New York (+16,315), Massachusetts (+4,335), Rhode Island (+863), Delaware (+842), and Arizona (+728), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,021), Maryland (-1,754), Ohio (-1,753), Pennsylvania (-1,715), and Illinois (-762).