Jobless Claims Fall to Only 202K for Week Ending February 1

The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) reported initial jobless claims fell 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 202,000 for the week ending February 1, beating the consensus forecast. The previous week’s level was revised higher by 1,000 to 216,000.

Forecasts ranged from a low of 212,000 to a high of 219,000. The consensus forecast was 215,000.

The 4-week moving average was 211,750, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 214,500 to 214,750.

Lagging Jobless Claims Data

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending January 25.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during that week was 1,751,000, an increase of 48,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 1,703,000.

The 4-week moving average was 1,742,250, a decrease of 13,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 1,755,500.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending January 18.

State Jobless Claims Data

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 18 were in Alaska (3.1), New Jersey (2.7), Puerto Rico (2.7), Montana (2.6), Connecticut (2.5), West Virginia (2.5), Pennsylvania (2.4), Rhode Island (2.3), Illinois (2.2), and Minnesota (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 25 were in Missouri (+536), Oregon (+406), Virginia (+228), Ohio (+221), and Kansas (+155), while the largest decreases were in California (-19,262), Illinois (-5,045), Georgia (-2,904), Pennsylvania (-2,859), and New York (-2,801).