Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Less Than the Median Forecast

The Labor Department reported Thursday that weekly jobless jobs fell by 16,000 to 278,000 for the week ending May 14, missing the median estimate for 275,000. The prior week, which was the highest number since February 2015, was unchanged at 294,000.

Still, the Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report marks 63 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973. However, the record high number of long-term unemployed Americans has greatly reduced the pool of eligible applicants.

A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors impacting the data and no state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending April 30.

The four-week moving average–which is widely considered a better gauge, as it irons-out volatility–came in at 275,750, a gain of 7,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 268,250.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 30 were in Alaska (3.8), Wyoming (3.0), West Virginia (2.5), New Jersey (2.4), California (2.3), Pennsylvania (2.3), Puerto Rico (2.3), Connecticut (2.2), Illinois (2.2), and Massachusetts (2.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 7 were in New York (+14,494), Pennsylvania (+3,547), Michigan (+3,278), Georgia (+1,555), and Texas (+941), while the largest decreases were in Kansas (-3,216), Ohio (- 2,525), Missouri (-1,218), Tennessee (-952), and California (-821).