Jobless claims fall in April 21 week; Level lowest since Dec. 6, 1969

WASHINGTON — Initial claims U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 24,000 to 209,000 in the April 21 week, well below the 231,000 level expected by analysts in an MNI survey and the lowest level since the December 6, 1969 week, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.

initial claims

The four-week moving average for initial claims, which tends to be a better measure of the underlying trend of the data, fell by 2,250 to 229,250 in the April 21 week after rising in the previous five weeks.

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 an additional 8,250 as the 242,000 level in the March 31 week rolls out of the calculation.

Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a decrease of 1.4%, or 3,259, in unadjusted claims. Instead, unadjusted claims fell by 26,218 (11.6%) to 199,816. The current week's level was well below the 241,611 level in the comparable week a year ago.

The only states where claims were estimated were Colorado and Maine. However, the claims taking procedures in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have still not returned to normal.

The level of continuing claims fell by 29,000 to 1.837 million in the April 14 employment survey week after falling by 12,000 in the previous week. Continuing claims were at a level of 1.876 million in the March 17 employment survey week, so the resulting 39,000 decrease is a positive sign for April payrolls when they are released next week.

Before seasonal adjustment, continuing claims fell by 61,686 to 1.868 million, well below the 2.012 million level seen in the comparable week last year.

The four-week average for continuing claims, a more reliable measure when the continuing claims are rapidly moving week-to-week, fell by 9,750 to 1.850 million.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.3% in the April 14 week, down from 1.4% 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.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.
Economic indicators Jobless claims
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