WASHINGTON — Initial claims for state unemployment rose 1,000 to a five-year high of 497,000 in the Sept. 27 week, again boosted by the effects of Texas and Louisiana hurricanes, the Labor Department reported yesterday.
“It is estimated that the effects of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and the effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas added approximately 45,000 claims to the total,” the report said.
Initial claims — which reached their highest level since 517,000 in the week ended Sept. 29, 2001 — topped by a wide margin analysts’ expectations in an MNI survey that had centered on a median level of 475,000.
The claims level for Sept. 20 week was revised up to 496,000 from the previously reported 493,000.
The four-week moving average rose 11,500 to 474,000 in the Sept. 27 week, its highest level since the Oct. 27, 2001, week, when it reached 480,750.
For the week ended Sept. 20, the seasonal adjustment factors had been expected to cause a decrease of 2.0% or negative 7,900 in unadjusted claims, but the actual drop was a slight 1.8% or negative 7,233 to 390,837, a Labor analyst said, resulting in a smaller change than expected.
Continuing claims for the Sept. 20 week rose 48,000 to 3.591 million, their highest level since the week ended Sept. 6, 2003, when they were 3.598 million.
The four-week average for continuing claims rose 46,750 to 3.528 million in the Sept. 20 week.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 2.7% in the Sept. 20 week, up sharply from 1.9% a year ago.
— Market News International
