WASHINGTON – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by 10,000 to 244,000 in the week ended April 15, slightly ahead of the 242,000 level analysts expected, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.
The level of claims in the current week was down 17,000 from the 261,000 level in the March 18 employment survey week, a positive factor for April payrolls.
There were no special factors reported by the Labor Department, but data from Louisiana and Puerto Rico had to be estimated for the week.
The fluctuating timing of Easter makes seasonal adjustment difficult, though it was not a large factor this year. Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a decrease of 9.4%, or 22,446, in unadjusted claims in the week. Instead, unadjusted claims fell by only 12,980 to 226,679, well below the 242,400 level in the comparable week a year ago.
The four-week moving average for initial claims fell by 4,250 to 243,000 in the April 15 survey week, a third straight decline and down 3,500 from the level in the March 18 employment survey week.
If the number of claims does not change next week and there are no revisions to data from the past four weeks, the four-week average will decline by 3,750 as the 259,000 level in the March 25 week rolls out of the calculation.
The level of continuing claims fell by 49,000 to 1.979 million in the April 8 week, bringing its four-week moving average to 2.024 million. Both the level of continuing claims and the four-week moving average were at their lowest levels since 2000.
Before seasonal adjustment, continuing claims fell by 93,080 to 2.046 million. This level remained well below the 2.212 million level seen in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 1.4% in the April 8 week, down from 1.6% a year earlier.
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.
