Weekly Jobless Claims Graphic. Number of Americans applying for first-time jobless benefits.
The Labor Department said on Thursday that weekly jobless claims rose by 10,000 to 272,000 last week. much higher than the estimate for 270,000.
The prior week was unchanged at 262,000.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims, and no state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending February 6.
The four-week moving average–which is widely considered a better gauge as it irons-out volatility–stood at 272,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 273,250.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 6 were in Alaska (4.7), West Virginia (3.6), New Jersey (3.4), Montana (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.2), Illinois (3.0), Rhode Island (3.0), Wyoming (3.0), Connecticut (2.9), Massachusetts (2.8), and Puerto Rico (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 13 were in Wisconsin (+387), Minnesota (+106), New Mexico (+77), the Virgin Islands (+-4), and Kentucky (+-22), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (- 3,739), Illinois (-2,349), Texas (-2,342), New York (-1,984), and Tennessee (-1,651)
