Initial jobless claims beat expectations and fell to a new pandemic low for the week ending September 4th, according to Department of Labor’s weekly report…(DOL)
- Initial claims were 310,000, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020. Economists had forecasted a smaller drop to 335k.
- The 4-week moving average was 339,500, a decrease of 16,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500.
Continuing claims failed to meet expectations but did still fall to a pandemic low for the week ending August 28th…
- Continuing claims were 2,783,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 2020. Economists had forecast a bigger drop to 2.74M.
- The 4-week moving average was 2,840,250, a decrease of 29,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 21, 2020.
Looking at individual state data was, as usual, a mixed bag for the week ending August 28th…
- The states with the largest increases were Missouri (+7,182), Ohio (+5,563), New York (+3,776), Tennessee (+1,854), and Florida (+1,723)
- The state with the largest decreases were California (-7,009), Illinois (-6,712), Virginia (-4,146), New Jersey (-2,496), and Oregon (-1,686).