US Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending February 3rd

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 218,000 during the week ending Saturday, February 3rd. This is a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 227,000 (originally 212,000). The 4-week moving average was 212,250—an increase of 3,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 208,500 (originally 207,750).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending January 27th was 1,871,000. This is a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,894,000 (originally 1,898,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,849,750—an increase of 9,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,840,250 (originally 1,841,250).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending January 27th, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s unrevised rate.