WASHINGTON — Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to 203,000 in the September 1 week, well below the 210,000 level expected by analysts in an MNI survey and the lowest since the December 6, 1969, week, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.
The claims level in the previous week was unrevised from the previously reported 213,000 level.
A better measure for the underlying trend of the data is the four-week moving average for initial claims. The average fell by 2,750 to 209,500 in the September 1 week, the lowest since the December 6, 1969, week when it was 204,500.
If the number of headline claims does not change next week and there are no revisions to data from the past four weeks, the four-week average would fall by 2,250 as the 212,000 level in the August 11 week rolls out of the calculation, keeping the average below its year ago level.
Seasonal adjustment factors had expected an increase of 2.7%, or 4,687 in unadjusted claims. Unadjusted claims, however, actually saw a decrease of 1.9%, or 3,390 to 172,355. The current week's level was well below the 250,627 level in the comparable week a year ago, when hurricanes boosted the number of claims for one week.
The level of continuing claims fell by 3,000 to 1.707 million in the August 25 week. Before seasonal adjustment, continuing claims fell by 27,788 to 1.596 million, remaining below the 1.812 million level seen in the comparable week last year.
The four-week average for continuing claims, which tends to be a more reliable measure as continuing claims consistently fluctuate week-to-week, fell by 13,250 to 1.719 million, the lowest level since the December 8, 1973 week when it was 1.716 million.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stayed at 1.2% in the August 25 week, down from 1.4% in the same week a year earlier, reinforcing that the level of insured unemployment is particularly low.
Claims were estimated for California, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Puerto Rico, and Virginia. The large number of estimates is likely due to the shorter reporting period due to the Labor Day holiday.
The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and labor force reentrants included in the monthly report.
