Jobless Claims Unchanged at 218K for Week Ending June 1

4-Week Average Declines to 215K

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims came in at a seasonally adjusted 218,000, unchanged from the prior week and slightly higher than the consensus forecast.

The 4-week moving average was 215,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week’s revised average.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending May 18.

In lagging data, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending May 25.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for the week ending May 25 came in at 1,682,000, an increase of 20,000. The 4 week moving average was 1,672,750, a decrease of 1,000.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 18 were in Alaska (2.2), California (1.9), New Jersey (1.9), Connecticut (1.7), Puerto Rico (1.7), Pennsylvania (1.5), Rhode Island (1.5), Virgin Islands (1.5), Illinois (1.4), Massachusetts (1.4), and Washington (1.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 25 were in Michigan (+2,537), Missouri (+1,046), New York (+875), New Jersey (+874), and California (+847), while the largest decreases were in Ohio (-3,273), Pennsylvania (-2,067), Florida (-250), Arizona (-151), and Indiana (-104).