Jobless Claims Fall Another 1k for Week Ending December 22

Labor Market Shows No Sign of Weakening in Weekly Initial Jobless Claims

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by another 1,000 to just 216,000 for the week ending December 22, beating the consensus forecast.

The 4-week moving average came in at just 218,000, a decline of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending December 15. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 15 was 1,701,000, a decline of 4,000.

The 4-week moving average was 1,675,750, down another 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending December 8.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 8 were in Alaska (3.2), New Jersey (2.1), California (1.9), Montana (1.9), Pennsylvania (1.9), Puerto Rico (1.9), Connecticut (1.8), Illinois (1.8), Minnesota (1.7), and Washington (1.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 15 were in Michigan (+1,727), Massachusetts (+1,097), Maryland (+321), Connecticut (+293), and Arkansas (+265), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-2,002), Minnesota (-1,104), Iowa (-930), Georgia (-606), and New Jersey (-581).