Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Fall Even Further to Just 210K

Initial jobless claims came in at a seasonally adjusted 210,000 for the week ending August 18, an unexpectedly but welcome decline of 2,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 212,000. The consensus forecast called for an increase of 3,000 to 215,000.

The 4-week moving average was 213,750, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 215,500.

In lagging data, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending August 11. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 11 fell to 1,727,000.

That’s a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week, which was revised up 8,000 from 1,721,000 to 1,729,000.

The 4-week moving average was 1,735,500, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 2,000 from 1,738,500 to 1,740,500.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 4 were in New Jersey (2.5), Puerto Rico (2.3), Connecticut (2.2), Pennsylvania (2.0), Alaska (1.9), Rhode Island (1.9), California (1.8), Massachusetts (1.6), the Virgin Islands (1.6), and the District of Columbia (1.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 11 were in Georgia (+949), Michigan (+310), Connecticut (+259), South Carolina (+186), and Wisconsin (+171), while the largest decreases were in California (-1,243), Pennsylvania (-1,103), Iowa (-905), Texas (-617), and Kentucky (-460).