Jobless Claims Decline Less than Expected for December 1

The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) said seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims came in at 231,000 for the week ending December 1, a decrease of 4,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 234,000 to 235,000.

The 4-week moving average was 228,000, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 223,250 to 223,750.

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The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate declined to an even lower 1.1% for the week ending November 24. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 24 was 1,631,000, a decline of 74,000.

The 4-week moving average increased by 250 to 1,667,000, while the previous week’s average was revised down by 1,000 from 1,667,750 to 1,666,750.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending November 17.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 17 were in Alaska (2.9), New Jersey (1.9), Puerto Rico (1.7), Connecticut (1.6), Pennsylvania (1.6), California (1.5), Illinois (1.5), Washington (1.5), Montana (1.4), and Rhode Island (1.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 24 were in Pennsylvania (+3,544), Wisconsin (+2,119), Massachusetts (+1,224), Kentucky (+1,181), and Oklahoma (+1,026), while the largest decreases were in Texas (-5,480), California (-4,245), Florida (-2,081), Illinois (-2,021), and Georgia (-1,679).