WASHINGTON – Initial jobless claims decreased to 469,000 for the week ending Feb. 27, in line with economists' estimates, the Labor Department reported today.
Continuing claims dropped to 4.5 million for the week ending Feb. 20, the lowest level in more than a year following two weekly increases.
Economists expected 469,000 initial jobless claims and 4.6 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
For the week ending Feb. 20, initial claims were revised to 498,000 from 496,000 initially reported. Continuing claims were revised to 4.634 million from 4.617 million reported for the week ending Feb. 13.
Initial claims usually drop during a holiday-shortened week only to rebound in the following week, a Labor Department official said. California, for example, reported a drop of 12,000 initial claims for the week of Feb. 20 partly because of the Presidents Day holiday.
Weather also affected initial jobless claims figures for the week ending Feb. 20. New Jersey reported an increased of 4,879 initial claims because snow storms and a mandatory furlough day closed state offices causing a backlog of initial claims to accrue.
Initial claims have fallen from a 2009 high of 674,000 set on March 28. Continuing claims reached a 2009 high of 6.904 million on June 27.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile figure, fell to 470,750 from 474,250. The average for continuing claims fell to 4,575,750 from 4,605,000.
The employment report for February will be released Friday. Economists are expecting nonfarm payrolls to decline by 20,000 and for the unemployment rate to increase to 9.8% from 9.7% in January.
