Initial Jobless Claims Fall Again, Near Historic Lows for Week Ending March 7

The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) reported initial jobless claims came in at a seasonally adjusted 211,000 for the week ending March 7, easily beating the consensus forecast. That’s a decline of 4,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised 215,000.

Forecasts ranged from a low of 215,000 to a high of 218,000. The consensus forecast was 216,000.

Lagging Claims Data

The advance seasonally adjusted ins

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 29 was 1,722,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 4,000 from 1,729,000 to 1,733,000.

The 4-week moving average was 1,727,500, an increase of 5,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,000 from 1,721,250 to 1,722,250.ured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending February 29.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending February 22.

State Jobless Claims Data

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 22 were in Alaska (2.9), New Jersey (2.8), Rhode Island (2.6), Connecticut (2.5), Montana (2.5), West Virginia (2.5), Massachusetts (2.3), Pennsylvania (2.3), Puerto Rico (2.3), Illinois (2.2), and Minnesota (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 29 were in New York (+17,064), California (+6,699), Ohio (+3,708), Virginia (+1,188), and Texas (+645), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-4,399), Illinois (-2,832), North Carolina (-1,085), Rhode Island (-1,047), and Indiana (-703).