Jobless claims: Another 215,000 Americans filed new claims last week

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Yahoo Finance

Jobless claims: Another 215,000 Americans filed new claims last week

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, March 3, 2022, 8:30 AM

Initial jobless claims improved more than expected in the latest weekly data to reach a two-month low, as the U.S. labor market recovery pressed ahead while Omicron-related disruptions retreated.

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

-- Initial jobless claims, week ended Feb. 26: 215,000 vs. 225,000 expected and an upwardly revised 233,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Feb. 19: 1.476 million vs. 1.420 million expected and a downwardly revised 1.474 million during prior week

At 215,000, the number of new jobless claims marked a back-to-back week of declines. It was also the lowest level since the week ended Dec. 31, when jobless claims totaled 207,000.

Jobless claims rose to nearly 300,000 in mid-January, reflecting some momentary backsliding in the labor market's improvements as Omicron virus cases surged to a record and seasonal adjustments in data became choppy due to the pandemic over the past two years. Still, claims have fallen precipitously compared to this time last year, with new claims coming in around 750,000 in late February 2021.

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-feb-26-2022-195934416.html

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JUST IN Jobless claims fall to 2-month low
Initial jobless claims improved, 215,000 Americans filed last week

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COMING UP Jobless claims preview: Another 225,000 individuals likely filed new claims last week
Check back at 8:30 a.m. ET for results

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-feb-26-2022-195934416.html

Yahoo Finance
Jobless claims preview: Another 225,000 Americans likely filed new claims last week

Emily McCormick·Reporter
Wed, March 2, 2022, 2:59 PM · 3 min read

Initial jobless claims are expected to dip to a three-week low in the latest weekly data, as the U.S. labor market recovery presses ahead while Omicron-related disruptions retreat.

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

-- Initial jobless claims, week ended Feb. 26: 225,000 expected, 232,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Feb. 19: 1.420 million expected, 1.476 million during prior week

At 225,000, the expected number of new jobless claims would mark a back-to-back week of declines. Jobless claims rose to nearly 300,000 in mid-January, reflecting some momentary backsliding in the labor market's improvements as Omicron virus cases surged to a record and seasonal adjustments in data became choppy due to the pandemic over the past two years. Still, claims have fallen precipitously compared to this time last year, with new claims coming in around 750,000 in late February 2021.

The overwhelming majority of labor market data and anecdotal remarks from companies have underscored a job market that remains incredibly tight. Demand for workers has far outpaced supply, and job openings have held near record levels. This has created a situation in which employees maintain a significant amount of leverage — and have seen considerable wage increases — while the labor supply-side constraints have contributed to economy-wide inflationary pressures.

"The labor market is extremely tight," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

"Labor demand is very strong, and while labor force participation has ticked up, labor supply remains subdued," Powell said. "As a result, employers are having difficulties filling job openings, an unprecedented number of workers are quitting to take new jobs, and wages are rising at their fastest pace in many years."

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[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. From the source:

The boilerplate of the report has been changed just a little. The program contact person and number have changed. The reports are shorter than before too. They used to be twelve or thirteen pages long. They are now ten pages long.

Hat tip to the new guy, Kevin Stapleton.

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, March 3, 2022

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending February 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 215,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 232,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 230,500, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 236,250 to 236,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for the week ending February 19, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 19 was 1,476,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,476,000 to 1,474,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,539,500, a decrease of 36,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since April 4, 1970 when it was 1,516,000. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 1,576,000 to 1,575,750.

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UNADJUSTED DATA

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The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 12 was 1,971,279, a decrease of 62,625 from the previous week. There were 18,593,212 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

{snip the rest of the ten-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 22-374-NAT

Program Contacts:
Kevin Stapleton: [phone]
Media Contact: [phone]

[Johnny2X2X]

2. This is extremely low

Another sign that the job market continues to remain tight.

And this is fantastic news for workers, never before in my lifetime have workers had this much leverage. Basically right now, if you're not willing to pay $20 an hour or close to it with benefits, good luck finding workers. Wage growth is phenomenal right now and it's slanted towards bigger raises for lower wage workers.

Seeing all of these small employers complaining about finding workers warms my heart. Finally seeing the little guy catching a break to give them a chance at earning a dignified wage is one of the greatest things to see.

Of course, inflation is still an issue, but wage growth is eating up most of inflation for workers.

[nitpicker]

3. IMO, not everyone can/will come back to work yet

Seniors who decided to retire and draw SS (while it's still around)

22s who saw internship/job offers dry up and decided to do graduate school

People who saw second-shift jobs dry up as 8-11 stores converted to 10-7

Those in the convention/hospitality industries who weren't needed to process/feed virtual attendees.

I think a number in the latter two categories have run out of benefits; some may have found other jobs, but I don't think all.

Come to think about it, how many people are waiting until May or later to go into a restaurant??

And of course, meanwhile the usually uncounted gig workers who had drop-offs in work requests.

[greenjar_01]

4. ANOTHER!

[BumRushDaShow]

5. At least Emily

is getting closer...