Global| Mar 01 2018U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Reach 48-Year Low
Summary
Initial unemployment insurance claims fell to 210,000 (-7.9% y/y) during the week ended February 24 from 220,000 in the prior week, which was revised from 222,000. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey looked for [...]
Initial unemployment insurance claims fell to 210,000 (-7.9% y/y) during the week ended February 24 from 220,000 in the prior week, which was revised from 222,000. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey looked for 226,000 claims. The four-week moving average eased to 220,500, the smallest amount since December 27, 1969.
In the week ended February 17, continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose to 1.931 million (-5.7% y/y) from 1.874 million. The four-week moving average of claimants still did decline, to 1.920 million from 1.926 million the week before.
The insured rate of unemployment returned to its longstanding 1.4% from the prior week's 1.3%.
Insured rates of unemployment varied widely by state. During the week ended February 10, southern states were again the lowest, including Florida (0.40%), North Carolina (0.57%), Georgia (0.71%), Virginia (0.75%) and Tennessee (0.77%). Northeastern states were generally the highest, including New Jersey (2.96%), Connecticut (2.88%), Rhode Island (2.72%) and Massachusetts (2.57%); other high end states were Montana (2.80%) and Alaska (3.81%). These state data are not seasonally adjusted.
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 Forecast Survey, carried in the AS1REPNA database.
| Unemployment Insurance (SA, 000s) | 02/24/18 | 02/17/18 | 02/10/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 210 | 220 | 229 | -7.9 | 245 | 263 | 278 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 1,931 | 1,874 | -5.7 | 1,962 | 2,135 | 2,266 |
| Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.4 | 1.3 |
1.5 |
1.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
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.
More Economy in Brief
