Jobless Claims Rise Slightly, But Labor Demand Remains Strong

The Labor Department said Thursday first-time jobless claims were 244,000 for the week ending August 5, a gain of only 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 240,000 to 241,000.

The four-week moving average–which is widely considered a less volatile gauge–was 241,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 241,750 to 242,000.

Continuing claims, in lagging data for the week ending July 29 , fell further by 16,000 to a very low 1.951 million. This four-week average is unchanged at 1.965 million with the unemployment rate for insured workers also unchanged at 1.4 %. These readings remain at or near historic lows.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 22 were in Puerto Rico (4.0), New Jersey (2.7), Connecticut (2.5), Alaska (2.2), Pennsylvania (2.2), California (2.1), Rhode Island (2.0), Massachusetts (1.9), Illinois (1.8), the District of Columbia (1.7), and New York (1.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 29 were in Iowa (+573), Delaware (+291), Washington (+240), Nevada (+96), and Idaho (+86), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-5,239), Missouri (-2,928), California (-2,491), New York (-1,523), and Connecticut (-1,251).

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending July 22 and no special factors influenced the data.