Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since September 6, 1969

4-Week Average for Jobless Claims Lowest Since November 1, 1969

Initial jobless claims declined by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 192,000 for the week ending April 13, the lowest level since September 6, 1969. For that week, jobless claims were 182,000.

The 4-week moving average declined by 6,000 to 201,250, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised average, the lowest level since November 1, 1969 when it was 200,500.

Last week, weekly jobless claims fell below 200,000 to the lowest level since December 6, 1969. The consensus forecast for this week was looking for 206,000, ranging from a low of 204,000 to a high of 215,000.

Released on March 18, 2019 at 8:30 AM EST for March 13, 2019.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending April 6. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for the week ending April 6 declined by 63,000 to 1,653,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,712,500, a decline of 22,750.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending March 30.

The highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending March 30 were in Alaska (2.8), New Jersey (2.4), California (2.2), Connecticut (2.2), Rhode Island (2.2), Montana (2.1), Illinois (2.0), Massachusetts (2.0), Pennsylvania (2.0), and Minnesota (1.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 6 were in Michigan (+1,945), Tennessee (+1,833), Arizona (+1,289), Florida (+1,098), and Arkansas (+1,031), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,301), New York (-406), Illinois (-354), Missouri (-327), and Wisconsin (-297).