–Survey Week Continuing Claims Up 31,000 From April 16 Survey Week

By Brai Odion-Esene and Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment
benefits rose by a larger-than-expected 10,000 to 424,000 after seasonal
adjustment in the May 21 week, with no mention of auto or storm-related
claims in the current week’s state data, the Labor Department reported
Thursday.

Economists surveyed by Market News International had expected
initial claims to come in at 405,000, down 4,000 from the initially
reported level of 409,000. The previous week’s claims were revised up to
414,000.

A Labor Department analyst said there was “nothing unusual” in the
state level data, with all states reporting on time. This means no
estimates were required.

The analyst said seasonal factors had expected a relatively small
increase of 0.5%, or about 1,600 unadjusted claims in the current week.
Instead, unadjusted claims rose by 2.8% — 10,284 — to 371,857 in the
current week. Unadjusted claims were at a level of 410,778 in the
comparable week a year earlier.

After rising for six consecutive weeks, the initial claims
seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average fell in the May 21 week, down
1,750 to 438,500.

The state data released for the May 14 week indicated unadjusted
claims increased in 10 states and declined in 42 states. Delaware was
unchanged. The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands are
included in this data.

In the May 14 employment survey week, continuing claims fell 46,000
to 3,690,000 after adjustment. In comparison, continuing claims were
higher by 31,000 in the April 16 survey week, when they came in at 3.659
million.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate dropped to 2.9%
from 3.0% the previous week, and was down from 3.6% in 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 fell by 57,119 in the May 7
week, bringing that category to 3,411,860. Extended benefits claims fell
by 6,096 to 633,946, not seasonally adjusted in the same week.

The Labor Department reported that a total of 7,739,572 persons
claimed unemployment benefits in the May 7 week, a decline of 196,976
from the previous week and well below the 9,981,807 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$]