Jobless Claims Rise for Week Ending August 27, Labor Department Says

The Labor Department reported Thursday first-time jobless claims applications rose by 2,000 to 263,000 for the week ending August 27, lower than the median forecast. Economist polled by Reuters had estimated a rise to 265,000, while the prior week was unchanged at 261,000.

The four-week moving average–which is widely considered a better gauge, as it irons out volatility–came in at 263,000, a decline of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 264,000.

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 August 13.

The report marks 78 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, which is the longest streak since 1970. However, due to long-term unemployment, the pool of eligible applicants is simply too low, at itself a 30-plus year historic level.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 13 were in Puerto Rico (3.0), New Jersey (2.8), Connecticut (2.7), Alaska (2.6), Pennsylvania (2.5), California (2.2), Rhode Island (2.1), West Virginia (2.1), Massachusetts (2.0), Illinois (1.9), and Wyoming (1.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 20 were in Michigan (+2,652), Louisiana (+2,280), North Dakota (+493), Puerto Rico (+352), and Pennsylvania (+325), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,962), Virginia (-1,168), Oregon (-985), Maryland (-675), and Oklahoma (-544).