U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Declined in Latest Week
Summary
- New claims dropped by 23,000 to 206,000.
- Continuing claims rose by 17,000 to 1.869 million.
- The insured unemployment rate remained at 1.2% for the 11th consecutive week.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped 23,000 to 206,000 in the week of February 14, from 229,000 in the week of February 7, revised from 227,000. The four-week average edged down 1,000 to 219,000 in the latest week from 220,000 in the prior week, revised from 219,500. The Action Economics Forecast Survey looked for 225,000 claims to have been filed.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries—also known as “continuing claims”—increased by 17,000 to 1.869 million in the week ending February 7 from 1.852 million in the week ending January 31, revised down 10,000 from 1.862 million. The four-week moving average stood at 1.845 million in the February 7 week, from 1.844 million in the January 31 week, revised from 1.847 million. The insured unemployment rate remained at 1.2% in the week of February 7, unchanged from the previous ten weeks.
The insured unemployment rate varied greatly across individual states and territories. In the week ending January 31, the highest unemployment rates were in Rhode Island (3.01%), New Jersey (2.90%), Massachusetts (2.74%), Minnesota (2.60%), Washington (2.56%), Montana (2.18%), California (2.15%), Michigan (2.04%) and Oregon (2.01%). The lowest rates were in Florida (0.30%), Louisiana (0.39%), North Carolina (0.43%), Alabama (0.45%), Arkansas (0.46%), and Arizona (0.49%). Rates in other notable states include New York (2.24%), Illinois (2.17%), Pennsylvania (2.10%), and Texas (1.10%). These state data are not seasonally adjusted.
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.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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