US Weekly Jobless Claims Increase

The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 211,000 during the week ending on Saturday, March 4th. This is an increase of 21,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 190,000. The 4-week moving average was 197,000—an increase of 4,000 from the previously week’s unrevised level of 193,000.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending February 25th was 1,718,000. This is an increase of 69,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,649,000 (originally reported as 1,655,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,679,500—an increase of 9,500 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,670,000 (originally reported as 1,671,500).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending February 25th, an increase of 0.1% from the previous week’s unrevised rate.