Jobless Claims Drop 16,000 to 339,000 in Sign of Improved Labor Market

In the week ending April 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment benefits was 339,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 355,000. The 4-week moving average was 357,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 362,000. Analysts were expecting claims of 350,000. Note that claims can be distorted around this time of year due to seasonal adjustments from the timing of Easter, which occurs at a different date each year, and school vacations. Still, these data point to a gradual healing of the labor markets. Other economic data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (or JOLTS report), also point to improved employment conditions, with the number of new job openings increasing by 300,000 to 3.9 million in February. This was the highest number of new job openings since May 2008. This could portend increased hiring in coming months, though we don't know when, or even if, all of these job openings will get filled. (Job openings tend to get filled a month or even longer after being posted.) In other data from Thursday's Jobless Claims report, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending April 13, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. These data are reported with a one-week lag. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending April 13 was 3,000,000, a decrease of 93,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,093,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,071,750, a decrease of 17,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,089,250. States reported 1,790,316 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 6, an increase of 7,761 from the prior week. These data are reported with a two-week lag. There were 2,729,204 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 6 was 5,071,050, a decrease of 81,605 from the previous week. There were 6,683,265 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012. We don't know if all of the people dropping off unemployment rosters because they found jobs. Some of them may no longer collect benefits if their benefits expire or if they are no longer looking for a job, such as to go back to school or stay at home with the kids. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 6 were in Alaska (5.1 percent), Puerto Rico (4.4), New Jersey (3.7), Pennsylvania (3.6), Wisconsin (3.5), California (3.4), Connecticut (3.4), Illinois (3.4), Oregon (3.2), and Rhode Island (3.2). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 13 were in California (+24,303), Texas (+3,050), Florida (+2,623), Indiana (+2,372), and Arizona (+1,296), while the largest decreases were in New York (-14,113), Michigan (-5,998), New Jersey (-4,204), Ohio (-3,036), and Illinois (-2,455).