WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims fell by 14,000 to 284,000 in the September 9 week, a surprise decline that suggests workers are having trouble filing for benefits.
Unadjusted filings in Texas fell by 11,800 after rising by 51,683 in the previous week, but is likely to rebound as offices open. There was no impact from Hurricane Irma on Florida claims this week, but claims were estimated by Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and the Virgin Islands this week, as the storm made it hard to tally and report the data.
The four-week moving average for initial claims, a better measure of the underlying trend of the data, rose by 13,000 to 263,250 in the September 9 week. The four-week average will continue this upward trend as the headline number rises. Even if the number of headline claims does not change next week, a very unlikely scenario, and there are no revisions to data from the past four weeks, the four-week average will rise by 12,250 as the 235,000 level in the August 19 week rolls out of the calculation.
Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a decrease of 10.5%, or 26,224, in unadjusted claims in the holiday-shortened week. Instead, unadjusted claims fell by 36,500 to 214,121. The current week's level was still ahead of the 193,291 level in the comparable week a year ago due to the hurricanes.
The level of continuing claims fell by 7,000 to 1.944 million in the September 2 week, not yet reflecting the increase in initial claims as some offices remained closed. However, continuing claims would be expected to rise in the coming weeks as many displaced workers will be on this assistance for quite some time. The addition of claims from Florida and other areas affected by Hurricane Irma will only add to this total.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.4% in the September 2 week for the 22nd straight week. The current week's rate is down from 1.6% in the same week a year earlier.
