Jobless claims: Another 293,000 individuals filed new claims last week, reaching fresh pandemic-era

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Source: Yahoo! Finance

Yahoo Finance

Jobless claims: Another 293,000 individuals filed new claims last week, reaching fresh pandemic-era low

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, October 14, 2021, 8:31 AM

U.S. states posted a much larger-than-expected drop in initial unemployment claims last week, bringing the number of those newly unemployed each week back toward their pre-virus pace.

The Labor Department released its jobless claims report Thursday morning. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial unemployment claims, week ended October 9: 293,000 vs. 320,000 expected, 326,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended October 2: 2.593 million vs. 2.670 million expected, 2.714 million during prior week

The latest jobless claims data reflected the smallest number of new filings since March 2020. New weekly jobless claims having been inching closer to their pre-pandemic levels over the past several months, reflecting a slowdown in firings, layoffs and separations as reopenings took place and demand for workers resurged.

Though the underlying trend in new jobless claims has been falling, some choppiness has returned to the data in recent weeks. Some economists attributed this to temporary disruptions around Hurricane Ida, which delayed many individuals from filing new claims until mid-September. The four-week moving average for new jobless claims — which smooths out volatility in the weekly data — increased by nearly 4,000 last week to reach 344,000. The prior week's moving average was also upwardly revised.

Continuing claims did come in at a fresh pandemic-era low in last week's report, however. These claims, which capture those still collecting benefits from regular state unemployment programs, dropped to 2.714 million at beginning of October. By comparison, continuing claims had averaged 1.699 million throughout 2019.

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-october-180735901.html

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COMING UP Jobless claims: Another 320,000 individuals likely filed new claims last week
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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-october-180735901.html

Yahoo Finance
Jobless claims preview: Another 320,000 individuals likely filed new claims last week
Emily McCormick
Emily McCormick·Reporter
Wed, October 13, 2021, 2:07 PM

U.S. states likely posted a modest drop in initial unemployment claims last week, bringing the number of those newly unemployed each week back toward their pre-virus pace.

The Labor Department is set to release its jobless claims report Thursday morning. Here are the main metrics expected from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

Initial unemployment claims, week ended October 9: 320,000 expected, 326,000 during prior week

Continuing claims, week ended October 2: 2.670 million expected, 2.714 million during prior week

New weekly jobless claims having been inching closer to their pre-pandemic levels over the past several months, reflecting a slowdown in firings, layoffs and separations as reopenings took place and demand for workers resurged. At the beginning of September, initial filings came in at 312,000, or the lowest since March 2020. However, this represented a level still about 100,000 greater than the average weekly pace from before the virus in 2019.

Though the underlying trend in new jobless claims has been falling, some choppiness has returned to the data in recent weeks. Some economists attributed this to temporary disruptions around Hurricane Ida, which delayed many individuals from filing new claims until mid-September. The four-week moving average for new jobless claims — which smooths out volatility in the weekly data — increased by nearly 4,000 last week to reach 344,000. The prior week's moving average was also upwardly revised.

Continuing claims did come in at a fresh pandemic-era low in last week's report, however. These claims, which capture those still collecting benefits from regular state unemployment programs, dropped to 2.714 million at beginning of October. By comparison, continuing claims had averaged 1.699 million throughout 2019.

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