US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Climb in the Week Ending February 22

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 242,000 during the week ending Saturday, February 22. This is an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 220,000 (originally 219,000). The 4-week moving average was 224,000—an increase of 8,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 215,500 (originally 215,250).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 15 was 1,862,000. This is a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,867,000 (originally 1,869,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,865,000—an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,862,000 (originally 1,862,500).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending February 15, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.