WASHINGTON - Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 14,000 to 298,000 in the August 16 employment survey week, slightly below expectations and following a small upward revision to the level in the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The most recent week's claims was down 5,000 from the 303,000 level in the July 12 employment survey week, but up 19,000 vs. the July 19 week.
Expectations for this week's report was for a claims level of 300,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previously reported 311,000 level in August 9 week. The initial claims level in that week was revised up to 312,000.
The initial claims seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average rose 4,750 to 300,750 in the August 16 week after increasing by 22,000 in the previous week. The four-week moving average was at a level of 309,250 in the July 12 employment survey week.
The Labor Department said there were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.
Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a 3.5%, or 9,357, decline in unadjusted claims in the August 16 week. Instead, unadjusted claims fell by 7.7%, or 20,709, to 248,759. That level is well below the 281,164 level reported in the comparable week a year ago.
The state data released for the August 9 week indicated unadjusted initial claims increased in 41 states and declined in 12 states, with no state unchanged. The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands are included in this data.
The level of continuing claims came in at 2.5 million after seasonal adjustment in the August 9 week, a decrease of 49,000 from the previous week and the lowest level since the week of June 16, 2007 - when it came in at 2.453 million.
The level of unadjusted continuing claims fell by 52,377 to 2,409,779 in the August 9 week, and was still down considerably from the 2.981 million level in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.9% in the August 9 week, down from 2.3% in the comparable week a year ago.
The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and labor force reentrants included in the monthly report.
The Labor Department reported that a total of 2,457,832 persons claimed unemployment benefits in the August 2 week, a decline of 18,965 from the previous week. The current week's level is still well below the 4,431,605 persons in the comparable week a year ago. These data are not seasonally adjusted, and include regular state claims, federal employee claims, new veterans claims, the EUC and extended benefits programs, state additional benefits, and STC/Workshare claims.
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