WASHINGTON (MNI) - Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the March 21 week, declining by 9,000 to 282,000 from the unrevised 291,000 in the March 14 week, the
Labor Department reported Thursday.
The median forecast was for a claims to slip to just 290,000. The Labor Department said there were no special factors in this week's report.
The initial claims seasonally adjusted four-week moving average fell 7,750 to 297,000 in the March 21 week from 304,750 in the prior week.
The Labor Department said seasonal adjustment factors had expected a 1.7% decrease of 4,371 in unadjusted claims from the previous week. Instead, unadjusted claims fell 5%, or 12,986, to 247,256.
There were 310,000 initial claims in the comparable week a year ago.
The level of continuing claims came in at 2.416 million after seasonal adjustment in the March 14 employment survey week, a decline of 6,000 from the previous week.
In a survey week comparison continuing claims are up 12,000 compared to the Feb. 14 survey week (2.404 million).
Unadjusted continuing claims fell by 28,953 to 2.7 million, well below the 3.1 million reported in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.8% in the previous week, compared to the 2.1% in the same period of last year.
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 2,784,951 persons claimed unemployment benefits in all programs in the March 7 week, a 74,194 decrease from the previous week. That level is still well below the 3,306,871 level in the comparable week a year ago. It should be noted that last year's total includes Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.
These data are not seasonally adjusted, and include regular state claims, federal employee claims, new veterans claims, extended benefits programs, state additional benefits, and STC/Workshare claims.
