New Jobless Claims Edge Up Slightly

First-time claims for unemployment benefits edged up a bit in the week ending March 27, but were still on the low side in terms of pandemic-period claims.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Thursday (April 1) that 719,000 initial jobless claims were filed, up from the previous week’s downwardly revised total of 658,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 26,000 from 684,000.

The four-week moving average for claims was 719,000, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week’s revised level and the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500, the BLS reported.

In the week ending March 20, the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment claims was 3.794 million, down 46,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 30,000 from 3.870 million to 3.840 million.

“We expect a more modest improvement in initial claims to 657K in line with the monthly average change for the median state,” UBS economist Seth Carpenter wrote in a note, per Yahoo Finance. “This past week’s nearly 100K drop was due to two states (IL, OH) where their very elevated claims flows reverted to national trends.”

The pandemic peak for jobless claims was a record 6.867 million during the final full week of March 2020, the month the pandemic took hold. 

New weekly claims have been on a downward trend the past few months as vaccinations continue being distributed and virus-related restrictions ease in most states.

“The recent improvement is consistent with accelerating labor market momentum as economic reopening continues,” Nomura economist Lewis Alexander wrote in a note.

This latest BLS report marks the seventh week in a row new jobless claims held below 800,000. It also is below the pandemic’s biggest unemployment dip in November 2020 of 701,000 new claims. During the same week last year, new claims surged to over 3 million.