US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Inch Higher in the Week Ending April 5

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 223,000 during the week ending Saturday, April 5. This is an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s unrevised total of 219,000. The 4-week moving average was 223,000, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised total.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 29 was 1,850,000. This is a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,893,000 (originally 1,903,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,867,750—a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,868,000 (originally 1,870,500).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending March 29, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The rate for the week ending March 22 was revised down by 0.1 percentage points, from 1.3% to 1.2%.