Jobless claims: Another 351,000 individuals filed new claims last week

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Yahoo Finance

Jobless claims: Another 351,000 individuals filed new claims last week

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, September 23, 2021, 8:34 AM·3 min read

U.S. states posted a surprise increase in initial jobless claims last week, rising further above a pandemic-era low from earlier this month.

The Labor Department released its weekly jobless claims report on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial unemployment claims, week ended September 18: 351,000 vs. 320,000 expected and 332,000 during the prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended September 11: 2.845 million vs. 2.600 million expected and 2.665 million during the prior week

Despite the increase last week, new claims have come down significantly since the start of the year to close in on their weekly rate from before the pandemic. At the start of the month, new jobless claims dipped to 312,000, or their lowest level since March 2020, before ticking back up. Claims had come in at an average weekly pace of just over 200,000 per month throughout 2019.

Over the past several months, as more individuals became vaccinated and returned to going out, the main issue capping the labor market's recovery has been on finding enough workers to meet employers' soaring demand. Job openings were at a record high of 10.9 million as of the end of July, highlighting the widespread nature of the labor constraints.

A growing list of companies have highlighted the operating disruptions and cost pressures resulting from labor scarcities. Earlier this week, shipping giant FedEx (FDX) said its first-quarter results "were negatively affected by an estimated $450 million year-over-year increase in costs due to a constrained labor market which impacted labor availability, resulting in network inefficiencies, higher wage rates, and increased purchased transportation expenses."

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-september-11-2021-190708680-190812867.html

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That's ten percent higher than expected.

The placeholder article, from yesterday afternoon:

COMING UP Another 320,000 individuals likely filed new jeobless claims last week
Check back at 8:30 a.m. ET for results

Yahoo Finance
Jobless claims preview: Another 320,000 individuals likely filed new claims last week

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-september-11-2021-190708680-190812867.html

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Wed, September 22, 2021, 3:08 PM

U.S. states are expected to post a drop in initial jobless claims last week, as the pace of those rendered newly unemployed slowed further and demand for workers remained elevated.

The Labor Department is set to release its weekly jobless claims report on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here are the main metrics expected from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

• Initial unemployment claims, week ended September 18: 320,000 expected versus 332,000 during the prior week

• Continuing claims, week ended September 11: 2.600 million expected versus 2.665 million during the prior week

New claims have closed in on their weekly rate from before the pandemic. At the start of the month, new jobless claims dipped to 312,000, or their lowest level since March 2020, before ticking back up. Claims had come in at an average weekly pace of just over 200,000 per month throughout 2019.

Over the past several months, as more individuals became vaccinated and returned to going out, the main issue capping the labor market's recovery has been on finding enough workers to meet employers' soaring demand. Job openings were at a record high of 10.9 million as of the end of July, highlighting the widespread nature of the labor constraints. (1)

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(1) https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. From the source:

https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

News Release

Connect with DOL at
https://blog.dol.gov

TRANSMISSION OF MATERIALS IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL
8:30 A.M. (Eastern) Thursday, September 23, 2021

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending September 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 351,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 332,000 to 335,000. The 4-week moving average was 335,750, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 335,750 to 336,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending September 11, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised up by 0.1 from 1.9 to 2.0 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 11 was 2,845,000, an increase of 131,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up 49,000 from 2,665,000 to 2,714,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,804,000, a decrease of 15,750 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 21, 2020 when it was 2,071,750. The previous week's average was revised up by 12,250 from 2,807,500 to 2,819,750.

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UNADJUSTED DATA

{snip. Emphasis mine}

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending September 4 was 11,250,287, a decrease of 856,440 from the previous week. There were 26,644,091 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

{snip the rest of the twelve-page news release, until the end}

Weekly Claims Archives
Weekly Claims Data

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The Department's Reasonable Accommodation Resource Center converts Departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large print. For alternative format requests, please contact the Department at [phone] (voice) or [phone] (federal relay).

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Washington, D.C. 20210
Release Number: USDL 21-1746-NAT

Program Contacts:
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