Jobless Claims Remain at Historic Lows, Downward Revision Breaks Record

The Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose 17,000 to 233,000 for the week ending January 20, 2018. That’s lower than the consensus estimate calling for 240,000 and the previous week was revised lower by 4,000.

At 220,00, claims last week were at the lowest level for jobless claims since February 24, 1973 when it was 218,000. But the downward revision to 216,000 breaks that record.

The 4-week moving average was 240,000, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 1,000 from 244,500 to 243,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was a very low 1.4% for the week ending January 13, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 13 was 1,937,000, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 6 were in the Virgin Islands (11.2), Puerto Rico (5.4), Alaska (4.3), Connecticut (3.1), New Jersey (3.1), Pennsylvania (2.9), Montana (2.7), Rhode Island (2.7), Illinois (2.6), and Massachusetts (2.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 13 were in California (+11,672), Texas (+5,567), Puerto Rico (+2,016), Connecticut (+1,660), and Arizona (+1,045), while the largest decreases were in New York (-26,335), Georgia (-8,200), Wisconsin (-6,689), Pennsylvania (-6,342), and Michigan (-4,664).