Job Market No Longer Flatlining...
The first genuinely good new unemployment claims number since 2007:
ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report: In the week ending February 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 348,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 361,000. The 4-week moving average was 365,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average of 367,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent for the week ending February 4, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 4, was 3,426,000, a decrease of 100,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,526,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,492,500, a decrease of 8,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,500,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 361,928 in the week ending February 11, a decrease of 39,328 from the previous week. There were 424,400 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.1 percent during the week ending February 4, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,964,007, a decrease of 133,493 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.6 percent and the volume was 4,575,640. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending January 28 was 7,681,911, an increase of 18,304 from the previous week.
Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending January 28.
