Jobless Claims Fall 8K, Average Insured Unemployment Lowest Since October 27, 1973

Initial jobless claims fell by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 207,000, easily beating the consensus forecast of 213,000 for the week ending September 29. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 214,000 to 215,000.

The 4-week moving average came in at 207,000, a slight increase of 500 from the previous week’s upwardly (+250) revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged from the unrevised very low 1.2% for the week ending September 22. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 22 declined 13,000 to 1,650,000, from the previous week’s revised level.

The previous week’s level was revised up 2,000 from 1,661,000 to 1,663,000.

The 4-week moving average declined by 15,250 to 1,664,500, from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since October 27, 1973 when it was 1,664,250.

The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 1,679,250 to 1,679,750.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending September 15.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending September 15 were in New Jersey (1.9), Alaska (1.7), California (1.7), Connecticut (1.6), Puerto Rico (1.6), Pennsylvania (1.5), Nevada (1.4), the District of Columbia (1.3), Illinois (1.3), and Rhode Island (1.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 22 were in North Carolina (+7,910), Kentucky (+4,469), South Carolina (+2,380), California (+945), and Michigan (+377), while the largest decreases were in Georgia (-1,185), New Jersey (-878), Texas (-863), New York (-760), and Pennsylvania (-726).