Jobless claims fell more than expected for the week ending February 26th, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor…(DOL)
- Initial jobless claims were 215,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
- Economists had a projected a smaller drop to 225,000.
Continuing claims increased for the week ending February 19th…
- Continuing claims were 1.476M, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
- Economists had projected a smaller increase to 1.475M.
Michigan saw the biggest drop in initial claims with 9,200 fewer claims week-over-week followed by California (-4,673) and Florida (-2,388).
- On the flip side, Massachusetts saw the biggest increase in claims with 3,137 more claims week-over-week followed by Rhode Island (+1,039) and Nevada (+850)
Jobless claims have now fallen in five of the last six weeks and are now down 70k from the peak of the Omicron variant. A good ADP report showing a 475k job growth with an 800k revision for the previous month on Wednesday now puts all eyes on the nonfarm payroll report out on Friday. Economists are projecting 400k which in a tight labor market would be a welcome sight.
