–Initial Claims Level Lowest Since 385,000 In April 2 Week
–Only One State Estimated, No Minnesota Data Available

By Kevin Kastner and Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment
benefits fell by 24,000 to a level of 398,000 after seasonal adjustment
in the July 23 week, the lowest level since the April 2 week, the Labor
Department reported Thursday.

Economists surveyed by Market News International had expected
initial claims to come in at 420,000, up 2,000 from the initially
reported level of 418,000 in the July 16 week. The previous week’s
claims were revised up to a level of 422,000.

The initial claims seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average was
413,750 in the July 23 week, down 8,500 from the previous week and the
lowest level since the April 23 week.

A Labor Department analyst said seasonal factors had expected a
drop of 17.3%, or about 81,000 unadjusted claims in the current week,
one of the larger unadjusted drops of the year. Claims actually fell
22.0%, or 103,503, to 366,578 in the current week. Unadjusted claims
were at a level of 413,679 in the comparable week a year earlier.

The analyst also noted that Minnesota, which has reported claims
related to the government shutdown over the last few weeks, did not
provide any detail on those claims this week. Also, Virginia
sent an estimate of its claims this week rather than actual data.

The state data released for the July 16 week indicated unadjusted
initial claims increased in 20 states and declined in 33 states. The
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands are included in
this data.

In the July 16 employment survey week, continuing claims fell
17,000 to 3,703,000 after adjustment, while unadjusted continuing claims
fell by 47,420 to 3,735,896.

Continuing claims in the current week are down 21,000 from the
level of 3,724,000 in the June 18 employment survey week.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 2.9% in
the July 16 week from 3.0% in the prior week, and is still well below
the 3.6% rate in the comparable week a year earlier.

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 rose by 18,427 in the July 9
week, bringing that category to 3,172,428. Extended benefits claims rose
43,973 to 587,685, not seasonally adjusted in the same week.

The Labor Department reported that a total of 7,645,601 persons
claimed unemployment benefits in the July 9 week, a rise of 320,152 from
the previous week, but still well below the 8,395,703 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.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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