• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Down 29k

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In the week ending December 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 343,000, a decrease of 29,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 372,000 and down 7.5% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 381,500, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's revised average of 408,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending December 1, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 24 were in Alaska (5.8), New Jersey (4.5), Puerto Rico (4.0), Oregon (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.7), California (3.5), Wisconsin (3.5), Montana (3.4), Connecticut (3.3), Nevada (3.2), and West Virginia (3.2). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 1 were in California (+24,411), Pennsylvania (+14,636), North Carolina (+13,961), New York (+11,025), and Texas (+10,435), while the largest decreases were in Kentucky (-615), Idaho (-481), Vermont (-402), Florida (-348) and Wisconsin (-91). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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