Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Rose 22,000 in Feb. 22 Week
Summary
- Weekly increase somewhat larger than forecast.
- Insured unemployment rate holds at 1.2%, same since late 2023.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 22,000 in the week ended February 22 to 242,000, seasonally adjusted, from 220,000 the week before, which was revised slightly from 219,000 reported initially. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a somewhat smaller increase, to 224,000. The four-week moving average was also 224,000.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries was 1.862 million, down from 1.867 million, also seasonally adjusted. The four-week moving average was 1.865 million, up from 1.862 million.
The insured unemployment rate, that is, the number unemployed as a percentage of covered employment, was still 1.2%, where it has except for two separate weeks at 1.3%, continuously since March of 2023.
Economic conditions vary widely across states and territories. So, in the week ended February 8, the highest unemployment rates were in Rhode Island (2.92%), New Jersey (2.87%), Minnesota (2.52%), Washington State (2.45%), and California (2.41%). The lowest rates were in Florida (0.35%), Alabama (0.45%), Virginia (0.46%), Tennessee and North Carolina (both 0.57%) and Mississippi (0.61%). Rates in other notable states include Pennsylvania (2.02%), Massachusetts (2.38), New York (1.92%) and Texas (1.09%).
Data on weekly unemployment claims are from the Department of Labor itself, not the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They begin in 1967 and are contained in Haver’s WEEKLY database and summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW back to December 1986. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey in the AS1REPNA database.
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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