US initial jobless claims and continuing claims
The weekly US initial jobless claims and continuing claims shows:
- Initial jobless claims 745K vs. 750K estimate. Last week was revised to 736k from 730K previously reported
- 4 week moving average of initial jobless claims 790.75K vs 807.5K last week.
- Continuing claims 4.295K vs 4300K estimate. The prior week was revised to 4295K vs 4419 previously reported
- 4 week moving average of continuing claims 4448K vs 4547K last week
- During the week ending February 13, 51 states reported 7,328,311 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 4,466,916 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.
- The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 20 were in Illinois (+6,014), Missouri (+5,624), Tennessee (+3,987), Mississippi (+3,266), and Colorado (+2,842),
- The largest decreases were in California (-49,138), Ohio (-45,189), New York (-9,117), Idaho (-5,111), and Michigan (-3,942).
Looking at the chart below, the claims number and 745K is near the low from the post pandemic of 711K, but still well above pre-pandemic levels. A total of 745K initial jobless claims in a week is still an figure but it is in the right direction. The BLS will report the national statistics tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM with expectations that nonfarm payroll jobs will increase by 200 K.
