• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Down 23k

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In the week ending November 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 393,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 416,000 and down 1.5% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 405,250, an increase of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 397,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending November 17, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 3 were in Alaska (5.1), New Jersey (4.1), Puerto Rico (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.6), Connecticut (3.2), Oregon (3.1), California (3.0), New York (2.9), Nevada (2.8), Virgin Islands (2.8), and West Virginia (2.8). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 17 were in Florida (+1,534), Michigan (+1,427), Massachusetts (+1,189), Kentucky (+945), and Minnesota (+872), while the largest decreases were in New York (-30,603), California (-26,337), Pennsylvania (-11,451), Oregon (-1,997) and North Carolina (-1,851). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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