Jobless Claims Decline by 2,000 as Labor Market Remains Resilient

Jobless claims were little changed last week, dropping by 2,000, with analysts saying the labor market remains resilient.

During the week ended Saturday (March 8), the number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 220,000, down from the previous week’s revised figure of 222,000, the Department of Labor said in a Thursday (March 13) press release.

The four-week moving average increased by 1,500 and was gauged at 226,000, up from the previous week’s revised average of 224,500.

The decrease in initial claims was not expected by analysts. Polls of economists by Bloomberg and Reuters both showed forecasts of 225,000 claims for the week.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the number of initial claims was similar to those seen before the pandemic and showed that the labor market was remaining resilient, despite trade wars and government cutbacks.

Reuters reported that the number shows the labor “remains on solid ground” and that the decrease reflects a settling after the spike seen in February that was caused by storms and seasonal fluctuations caused by the Presidents Day holiday.

The Department of Labor also reported Thursday that the number of insured unemployment dropped by 27,000 during the week ended March 1. It dropped to 1,870,000, down from the previous week’s level of 1,897,000.

The insured unemployment rate remained at 1.2%, which was unchanged from the previous week.

The states with the greatest decreases in initial claims during the week ended March 1 — Massachusetts, which had 3,885 fewer, and Rhode Island, which had 1,984 fewer — both attributed the decrease to fewer layoffs in the educational services industry.

New York had the biggest increase, with 15,513 more initial claims for unemployment. The state attributed the rise to layoffs in three industries: transportation and warehousing; accommodation and food services; and public administration.

The Conference Board reported Monday (March 10) that its Employment Trends Index (ETI) dropped in February to its lowest level since October. It attributed the decrease to the impact “growing policy uncertainty” was having on business and consumer sentiment.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas said March 6 that February had the highest monthly total of job cuts since July 2020.