US Weekly Jobless Claims Move Lower in the Week Ending February 17th

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 201,000 during the week ending Saturday, February 17th. This is a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 213,000 (originally 212,000). The 4-week moving average was 212,250—a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 218,750 (originally 218,500).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending February 10th was 1,862,000. This is a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,889,000 (originally 1,895,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,877,500—an increase of 8,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,869,000 (originally 1,870,500). The 4-week moving average is at its highest level since December 11th, 2021.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending February 3rd, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s unrevised rate.