Global| Dec 29 2016U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Decline
Summary
Initial claims for unemployment insurance eased to 265,000 (-7.0% y/y) in the week ended December 24 following an unrevised increase to 275,000 in the December 17 week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey also showed [...]
Initial claims for unemployment insurance eased to 265,000 (-7.0% y/y) in the week ended December 24 following an unrevised increase to 275,000 in the December 17 week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey also showed 265,000 claims. The four-week moving average of claims decreased slightly to 263,000 from 263,750 the week before.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance increased to 2.102 million (-5.0% y/y) in the December 17 week from 2.039 million. The four-week moving average of claimants was up slightly to 2.042 million from 2.038 million.
The insured rate of unemployment was 1.5%, which is also the average since September. The record low of this 45-year-old series was 1.4% in the week ended November 5.
Insured rates of unemployment across states continue to vary. Among the lower-48 states, for the week ended December 10, the lowest rates were in Florida (0.56%), North Carolina (0.61%), Tennessee (0.65%) and Nebraska (0.67%); two states were tied at 0.70%: South Dakota and Virginia. The highest rates were found in Montana (2.60%), New Jersey (2.48%), Pennsylvania (2.35%), California (2.33%) and Connecticut (2.24%). The state data are not seasonally adjusted, and possibly seasonal forces account for at least some part of the jump in Alaska to 4.78% from 4.04% the week before.
Data on weekly unemployment insurance are contained in Haver's WEEKLY database and they are summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics survey, carried in the AS1REPNA database.
| Unemployment Insurance (SA, 000s) | 12/24/16 | 12/17/16 | 12/10/16 | Y/Y % | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 265 | 275 | 254 | -7.0 | 277 | 307 | 342 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,102 | 2,039 | -5.0 | 2,268 | 2,607 | 2,978 |
| Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.5 | 1.5 |
1.6 |
1.7 | 2.0 | 2.3 |
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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