• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Down 22k

---

In the week ending February 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 344,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 366,000 and down 7.8% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 355,000, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 361,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending February 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 9 were in Alaska (6.5), Puerto Rico (4.3), Montana (4.2), New Jersey (4.2), Pennsylvania (4.2), Rhode Island (4.1), Wisconsin (4.0), California (3.9), Idaho (3.8), Illinois (3.8), and Massachusetts (3.8). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 16 were in California (+26,683), Connecticut (+1,747), Massachusetts (+883), and New Mexico (+5), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-3,285), Kansas (-3,114), Pennsylvania (-2,865), Florida (-2,442), and Ohio (-2,265). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

---