–Initial Claims Level Now Lowest Since February 16, 2008 Week
–Alaska, Minnesota Estimated, Otherwise Nothing Unusual

By Kevin Kastner and Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment
benefits fell by 5,000 to a level of 348,000 in the March 17 employment
survey week, below expectations and the lowest level since 339,000 in
the February 16, 2008 week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The level of claims in the March survey week was 5,000 from the
353,000 level in the February 18 employment survey week, suggesting
continued improvement in the employment picture.

Economists surveyed by Market News International had expected
initial claims in the March 17 week to come in at 355,000, up from the
351,000 level initially reported in last week’s data. That week’s claims
level was revised up slightly to 353,000.

A Labor Department analyst said that claims from Minnesota and
Alaska were estimated, but otherwise there was nothing unusual in the
state level data.

The analyst said seasonal factors had expected a drop of about 5.7%
or 19,500 in unadjusted initial claims in the March 17 week. The actual
drop in unadjusted claims was about 7.2% or 24,441 to a level of
315,636. Unadjusted claims were at a level of 354,457 in the comparable
week a year ago.

The initial claims seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average was
355,000 in the March 17 week, a decline of 1,250 from the previous week.

The state data released for the March 10 week indicated unadjusted
initial claims increased in 15 states and declined in 38 states. The
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands are included in
this data.

Continuing claims fell 9,000 to 3.352 million after seasonal
adjustment in the March 10 week, the lowest level since 3.337 million
continuing claims were reported in the August 9, 2008 week.

Unadjusted continuing claims fell by 57,489 to 3,804,840 in the
March 10 week and were well below the 4,277,092 level in the comparable
week a year earlier.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 2.6% in
the March 10 week from 2.7% in the previous week, and was down sharply
from the 3.0% rate in the comparable week a year earlier. The current
week’s level is the lowest since 2.6% in the September 13, 2008 week.

The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below
that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are
approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and
labor force reentrants included in the monthly report.

The Labor Department said that the level of unadjusted Emergency
Unemployment Compensation benefits claims fell by 24,312 in the March 3
week, bringing that category to 2,851,483. Extended benefits claims rose
by 8,325 to 461,625 not seasonally adjusted in the same week.

The Labor Department reported that a total of 7,281,541 persons
claimed unemployment benefits in the March 3 week, a decline of 142,499
from the previous week and still well below the 8,766,071 persons in the
comparable week a year ago. These data are not seasonally adjusted, and
include regular state claims, federal employee claims, new veterans
claims, the EUC and extended benefits programs, state additional
benefits, and STC/Workshare claims.

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MT$$$$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]