Jobless claims: Another 793,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last week

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Jobless claims: Another 793,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last week

Emily McCormick·Reporter
Thu, February 11, 2021, 8:31 AM · 3 min read

New weekly unemployment claims pulled back but held at elevated levels last week, as the labor market endured another blow following a difficult stretch at the end of last year.

The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main results from the report, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial jobless claims, week ended Feb. 6: 793,000 vs. 760,000 expected and 779,000 during the prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Jan. 30: 4.545 million vs. 4.420 million expected and 4.592 million during the prior week

Economists were expecting to see that new jobless claims fell to a fresh two-month low last week, improving further after a better-than-expected drop at the end of January brought new claims below 800,000 for the first time in four weeks.

“The continued improvement in weekly jobless claims suggests ongoing recovery in the labor market after a weak patch in December,” Nomura chief economist Lewis Alexander said in a note ahead of Thursday’s report.

Jobless claims have been tracking a decline in COVID-19 cases, with the rate of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths retreating after a holiday spike. Over the past week, an average of about 105,000 cases were reported per day, dropping 36% from the average of two weeks earlier, according to data compiled by the New York Times. And the Biden administration recently boosted the weekly supply of COVID-19 vaccines sent to states by 28% to 11 million, offering hopes that widespread immunity could allow for faster reopenings and rehirings.

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/initial-jobless-claims-week-ended-february-6-2021-coronavirus-pandemic-191313864.html

[nitpicker]

1. From the DoL PR

https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf


UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 813,145 in the week ending
February 6, a decrease of 36,534 (or -4.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease
of 17,368 (or -2.0 percent) from the previous week. There were 219,601 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In
addition, for the week ending February 6, 52 states reported 334,524 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance.
(snip)

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending January 23 was
20,435,018, an increase of 2,596,539 from the previous week. There were 2,184,622 weekly claims filed for benefits in
all programs in the comparable week in 2020.
(snip)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Thanks. We're working simultaneously.

And good morning.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. From the source:

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, February 11, 2021

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending February 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 793,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 33,000 from 779,000 to 812,000. The 4-week moving average was 823,000, a decrease of 33,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 8,250 from 848,250 to 856,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent for the week ending January 30, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised up by 0.1 from 3.2 to 3.3 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 30 was 4,545,000, a decrease of 145,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up 98,000 from 4,592,000 to 4,690,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,748,750, a decrease of 157,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 24,500 from 4,881,750 to 4,906,250.

{snip}

UNADJUSTED DATA

{snip. Emphasis mine}

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending January 23 was 20,435,018, an increase of 2,596,539 from the previous week. There were 2,184,622 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

{snip the rest of the twelve-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 21-261-NAT

Program Contacts:
Thomas Stengle: [phone]
Media Contact: [phone]