Jobless Claims Rise Less than Expected for Week Ending September 24

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that weekly jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 254,000 last week, lower than the estimate for 260,000. The number of Americans filing for first-time state unemployment benefits during the prior week was revised lower by 1,000 to 251,000.

The four-week moving average–widely considered a more accurate gauge, as it irons out volatility–came in at 256,000, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

An analyst at the DOL 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 September 10. While the report marks 82 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1970, it is also true that long-term unemployment has simply shrunk the pool of eligible applicants.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending September 10 were in Alaska (2.6), Puerto Rico (2.5), New Jersey (2.3), Connecticut (2.1), the Virgin Islands (2.1), California (2.0), Pennsylvania (2.0), Illinois (1.9), West Virginia (1.9), Massachusetts (1.7), and Nevada (1.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 17 were in California (+3,152), Texas (+1,745), New Jersey (+1,665), Georgia (+1,229), and Michigan (+785), while the largest decreases were in Oklahoma (-626), Wisconsin (-404), West Virginia (-222), Kentucky (-149), and Nevada (-99).