Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Less than Expected

The Labor Department said first-time unemployment claims fell by 3,000 to 258,000 week ending October 22, higher than the median forecast of 255,000. The prior week was also revised higher by 1,000 from 260,000 to 261,000.

The 4-week moving average–widely considered a less volatile gauge–was 253,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 251,750 to 252,000.

While this marks 86 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1970, PPD has repeatedly reported that the eligible pool of first-time applicants is also historically low due to longterm unemployment and a shrinking labor force participation rate.

A Labor Department analyst said were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims and no state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending October 8.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending October 8 were in Alaska (2.8), Puerto Rico (2.6), the Virgin Islands (2.3), New Jersey (2.1), Connecticut (2.0), California (1.9), Pennsylvania (1.8), Nevada (1.7), West Virginia (1.7), Illinois (1.6), and Massachusetts (1.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 15 were in Kentucky (+5,644), Michigan (+2,874), California (+2,588), North Carolina (+2,370), and New York (+2,178), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-4,188), Texas (- 2,268), Missouri (-1,913), Illinois (-1,757), and Washington (-1,066).