US Weekly Jobless Claims Unchanged in the Week Ending March 2nd

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 217,000 during the week ending Saturday, March 2nd. This is unchanged from last week’s revised level (originally 215,000). The 4-week moving average was 212,250—a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 213,000 (originally 212,500).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending February 24th was 1,906,000. This is an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,898,000 (originally 1,905,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,888,250—an increase of 10,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,878,000 (originally 1,879,250). The four-week moving average is at its highest level since December 11th, 2021, when it was 1,888,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3% for the week ending February 24th, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.