Jobless Claims Rise Amid Typical Seasonal Volatility

Jobless claims reportedly rose last week, though media reports suggested that the rise was due to the volatility in data that is typically seen around holidays.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 9,000 during the week ended Saturday (Nov. 30), which included Thanksgiving.

The total of 224,000 initial claims filed during the week was up from the previous week’s revised figure of 215,000, the Department of Labor (DOL) said in a Thursday (Dec. 5) press release. The previous week’s number was revised up by 2,000.

The four-week moving average of 218,250 was 750 higher than the previous week’s revised average of 217,500, according to the release. That figure was revised up by 500.

The number of initial claims during the week was the highest seen in a month and exceeded economists’ median forecast of 215,000, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The report said the BLS weekly data tends to be choppy around holidays, noting that the latest data covered a week that included Thanksgiving.

The week’s total was also higher than that expected by economists polled by Reuters, who had forecast 215,000 claims. Reuters, too, reported that there tends to be volatility in the data around holidays but added that the number of claims is still consistent with steady job growth.

The DOL report came two days after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that available jobs increased, as measured in October, while hiring slowed.

The DOL also reported Thursday that the states with the greatest increases in the number of initial claims filed during the week ended Nov. 23 were California, with 4,573; Illinois, with 2,814; and Pennsylvania, with 2,785.

In comments supplied to the DOL, Pennsylvania attributed the rise to layoffs in three industries: construction, administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services. Neither California nor Illinois submitted comments.

No state saw a decrease of more than 1,000 initial claims during the week.

The insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ended Nov. 23, a rate that was 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous week, according to the release.

The insured unemployment number for that week was 1,871,000, which was 25,000 lower than the previous week’s revised level of 1,896,000, per the release. The figure for the previous week was revised down by 11,000.