WASHINGTON — Initial claims U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 22,000 to 222,000 in the October 14 employment survey week, well below the 240,000 level expected, and the lowest level since March 31, 1973, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.
Claims were down 38,000 from the level of 260,000 in the September 16 employment survey week, indicating that the impact from the hurricanes on the claims data has dissipated.
Puerto Rico saw an increase of 1,570 initial claims, while Florida saw a decline of 2,773 and Texas saw a decline of 1,804, indicating the effects of hurricanes Irma and Harvey have dissipated, but Puerto Rico is continuing to see effects of hurricane Maria on claims data.
The four-week moving average for initial claims, a better measure of the underlying trend of the data, fell by 9,500 to 248,250 in the October 14 week, down 20,500 from the 268,750 level in the September 16 survey week. If the number of headline claims does not change next week and there are no revisions to data from the past four weeks, the four-week average will fall by 11,750 as the 269,000 level in the September 23 week rolls out of the calculation.
Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a decrease of 1.8%, or 4,156, in unadjusted claims in the week. Instead, unadjusted claims fell by 24,500 (10.7%) to 204,788. The current week's level is far below the 233,633 level in the comparable week a year ago.
The level of continuing claims fell by 16,000 to 1.888 million in the October 7 week, reflecting a decrease in initial claims following post-hurricane recovery. Continuing claims could fall as displaced workers could start to find work as the hurricane affected areas continue to improve.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate dropped to 1.3% in the October 7 week. The current week's rate is down from 1.5% in the same 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.
