US Weekly Jobless Claims declined by 1K to 216K, in line with expectations

In the week ending December 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 216,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 3,000 from 214,000 to 217,000. The 4-week moving average was 218,000, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 222,000 to 222,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending December 15, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 15 was 1,701,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 17,000 from 1,688,000 to 1,705,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,675,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 4,250 from 1,672,500 to 1,676,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 285,180 in the week ending December 22, an increase of 29,985 (or 11.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 31,492 (or 12.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 324,958 initial claims in the comparable week in 2017. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent during the week ending December 15, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 1,756,802, an increase of 34,598 (or 2.0 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 39,219 (or 2.3 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.4 percent and the volume was 1,985,967.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 8 was 1,752,109, an increase of 74,530 from the previous week. There were 2,004,231 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2017. No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending December 8. Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,162 in the week ending December 15, an increase of 241 from the prior week. There were 608 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 22 from the preceding week. There were 11,061 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 8, an increase of 1,128 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 7,037, an increase of 279 from the prior week. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 8 were in Alaska (3.2), New Jersey (2.1), California (1.9), Montana (1.9), Pennsylvania (1.9), Puerto Rico (1.9), Connecticut (1.8), Illinois (1.8), Minnesota (1.7), and Washington (1.7). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 15 were in Michigan (+1,727), Massachusetts (+1,097), Maryland (+321), Connecticut (+293), and Arkansas (+265), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-2,002), Minnesota (-1,104), Iowa (-930), Georgia (-606), and New Jersey (-581).

Dept of Labor

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