Jobless claims, an application for first-time unemployment benefits. (Photo: Reuters)
The Labor Department reported on Thursday that first-time jobless claims benefits were largely unchanged for the week ending June 17, 2017. The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 241,000, a slight gain of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level and roughly on par with estimates.
Continuing claims that lag by a week were also little changed at 1.944 million, indicating an unusually strong labor market.
The previous week’s level was also revised up by 1,000 from 237,000 to 238,000 and no state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending June 3.
The 4-week moving average–widely considered a better gauge–was 244,750, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by just 250 from 243,000 to 243,250.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 3 were in Puerto Rico (2.9), Alaska (2.7), New Jersey (2.2), California (2.0), Connecticut (2.0), Pennsylvania (1.8), Illinois (1.7), Massachusetts (1.7), Nevada (1.7), and Rhode Island (1.6).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 10 were in California (+6,409), Pennsylvania (+5,305), Florida (+2,398), Texas (+1,922), and Georgia (+1,569), while the largest decreases were in Tennessee (-1,036), Arkansas (-956), Ohio (-829), Missouri (-541), and New Mexico (-419).
