WASHINGTON – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by 6,000 to a level of 244,000 in the Feb. 18 week employment survey week, above the 235,000 level expected, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.
Claims were at a level of 237,000 in the January 14 employment survey week, so this month represents a modest deterioration, but the level of claims remains historically low.
Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a decrease of 4.3%, or 10,494, in unadjusted claims in the current week. Unadjusted claims instead fell by 5,359 to 240,527. The current week's unadjusted level was below the 248,870 level in the comparable week a year ago.
Claims from Hawaii, Virginia, and Wyoming were estimated by the states themselves, likely due to the shorter reporting period this week when Monday was a holiday. These states have a relatively small share of total claims, so any revision to this week's data is likely to have little impact on the headline number.
The four-week moving average for initial claims fell by 4,000 to 241,000 in the Feb. 18 week, the lowest level since the 239,500 average posted in July 21, 1973 week.
If the headline number of claims does not change next week and there are no revisions, the average will fall by 1,000 as a 248,000 level rolls out of the calculation.
The level of continuing claims fell by 17,000 to 2.060 million in the Feb. 11 week. Before seasonal adjustment, continuing claims for the Feb. 11 week rose by 21,436 to 2.486 million. This level was well below the 2.612 million level seen in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.5%, down from 1.6% 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.
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