US weekly unemployment claims fall

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims witnessed a drop last week, reaching 218,000.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 218,000 for the week ended September 21, US Labour Department data showed on Thursday.

The previous week’s level was revised up by 3,000 from 219,000 to record 222,000. The four-week moving average was 224,750, a fall of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 227,500 to reach 228,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending September 14, holding steady from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 14 stood at 1,834,000, a rise of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 8,000 from 1,829,000 to reach 1,821,000. The four-week moving average was 1,835,750, a decline of 6,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 2,000 from 1,844,250 to record 1,842,250.

Unadjusted Data

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programmes, unadjusted, totaled 180,878 in the week ending September 21, marking a fall of 5,957 (or -3.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decline of 2,881 (or -1.5 percent) from the previous week. There were 175,650 initial claims in the comparable week in 2023, the data showed.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent during the week ending September 14, holding steady from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programmes totaled 1,634,391, a decline of 37,378 (or -2.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decline of 49,170 (or -2.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.1 percent and the volume stood at 1,588,285.

The largest rises in initial claims for the week ending September 14 were reported in Texas (+2,216), New York (+1,842), California (+1,108), Georgia (+1,014), and Michigan (+787), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-1,969), Wisconsin (-794), Connecticut (-569), Nebraska (-517), and Louisiana (-224).

Attribution: The US Labour Department weekly report