–Initial Claims Up 13,000 To 462,000 In Oct 9 Week
–Five States Estimated Due To Columbus Day Holiday
–Continuing Claims Down To Lowest Level In Almost 2 Years

By Brai Odion-Esene and Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment
benefits rose by 13,000 to 462,000 in the October 9 week after seasonal
adjustment, a jump attributed to the start of a new quarter, the U.S.
Labor Department reported Thursday.

Economists surveyed by Market News International had expected
initial claims to come in at 445,000 in the current week, the same
amount originally reported in the previous week. The October 2 week’s
level was revised up to 449,000.

A Labor Department analyst said that for the latest week, seasonal
factors expected “a very large increase” in unadjusted claims; by 16.9%
or about 63,000 claims. Instead, they rose by 20.3%, or 75,914 claims,
to 449,568. Unadjusted claims were at a level of 508,659 in the
comparable week a year ago.

The Labor analyst attributed the jump in claims to a “quarter-end
effect,” noting that as one quarter draws to a close, claimants
traditionally hold off from filing for benefits until the start of the
next quarter in order to boost the amount they will receive.

He added that due to Monday’s Columbus Day Federal holiday, some
states were not able to compile the data and submit it to the Labor
Dept. in a timely manner. As a result, Virginia provided its own
estimate, while the Department estimated claims figures for Washington
DC, Indiana, Texas and Puerto Rico.

The initial claims seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average rose
by 2,250 to 459,000 in the October 9 week, the first increase after
declining for six consecutive weeks.

In the October 2 week, continuing claims fell by a massive 112,000
to 4,399,000, its lowest level since the November 22, 2008 week.
Unadjusted continuing claims fell 111,184 to 3,66851, well below the
4,953,947 level a year earlier.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in
the October 2 week from 3.6% in the previous week and 4.5% 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 declined by 235,512 in the
September 25 week, bringing that category to 3,888,001. Extended
benefits claims fell 104,621 to 907,298 not seasonally adjusted.

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

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