US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending March 1

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 221,000 during the week ending Saturday, March 1. This is a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week’s unrevised total of 242,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,250—an increase of 250 from the previous week’s unrevised total of 224,000.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 22 was 1,897,000. This is an increase of 42,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,855,000 (originally 1,862,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,866,000—an increase of 2,750 from the previous week’s downwardly revised total of 1,863,250 (originally 1,865,000).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending February 22, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.