WASHINGTON — Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by 17,000 to an as-expected 283,000 in the October 18 employment survey week, as seasonal factors expected a larger unadjusted decline in the holiday-shortened week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The initial claims level in the previous week was revised up slightly to 266,000 from the previously reported 264,000 level.
The Labor Department said there were no special factors in this week's data, with no states estimated.
Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a 12.3%, or roughly 33,552, decrease in unadjusted claims in the October 18 holiday-shortened week. Instead, unadjusted claims fell only 6.7% or 18,260 to 255,483 following a smaller-than-expected 16,189 unadjusted rise in the previous week. The current week's level is well below the 312,037 level reported in the comparable week a year ago.
The initial claims seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average fell by 3,000 to 281,000 in the week ending October 18, a sixth straight decline and the lowest level since 279,250 in the May 6, 2000 week.
The level of continuing claims came was 2.351 million after seasonal adjustment in the October 11 week, a 38,000 decline from the previous week. The current week's level is the lowest since 2.340 million in the December 23, 2000 week.
The 4-week moving average for continuing claims fell 22,750 to 2.381 million, the lowest level since the May 20, 2006 week, when it was 2.378 million.
The level of unadjusted continuing claims fell by 15,988 to 2,002,933 in the October 11 week, well below the 2,465,939 level in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment held steady at 1.8% in the October 11 week, also well below the seasonally adjusted 2.2% rate in the comparable week a year earlier.
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 2,073,549 persons claimed unemployment benefits in the October 4 week, a 15,056 decrease from the previous week and still well below the 3,855,710 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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