Unemployment Insurance, Weekly Jobless Claims, Continue to Show Tight Labor Market
The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) reported initial jobless claims fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 for the week ending January 25, matching the consensus forecast. The previous week’s level was revised higher by 12,000 to 223,000.
Forecasts ranged from a low of 213,000 to a high of 216,000. The consensus forecast was 215,000.
The 4-week moving average was 214,500, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was also revised up by 3,000 from 213,250 to 216,250.
Lagging Jobless Claims Data
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending January 18.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during that week was 1,703,000, a decrease of 44,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 16,000 from 1,731,000 to 1,747,000.
The 4-week moving average was 1,755,500, an increase of just 6,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 4,000 from 1,757,750 to 1,761,750.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending January 4, the Labor Department said.
State Jobless Claims Data
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 11 were in Alaska (3.2), New Jersey (2.7), Connecticut (2.6), Puerto Rico (2.6), West Virginia (2.6), Montana (2.5), Pennsylvania (2.5), Illinois (2.3), Rhode Island (2.3), California (2.2), and Minnesota (2.2).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 18 were in California (+12,865), Puerto Rico (+2,288), Illinois (+2,104), Kansas (+262), and Vermont (+106), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-10,138), Georgia (-9,801), Texas (-6,119), Missouri (-5,975), and New York (-5,491).
