• U.S. Initial Unemployment [Jobless] Claims Down 10k

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In the week ending March 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 332,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 342,000 and down 8.5% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 346,750, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 349,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending March 2, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 23 were in Alaska (6.2), Puerto Rico (4.7), Rhode Island (4.5), Connecticut (4.2), New Jersey (4.2), Montana (4.1), Pennsylvania (4.1), Massachusetts (4.0), Wisconsin (3.9), California (3.7), Illinois (3.7), and Oregon (3.7). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 2 were in California (+11,720), New York (+7,900), Missouri (+2,722), Kansas (+1,419), and Washington (+813), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-4,193), North Carolina (-1,146), Connecticut (-913), Michigan (-909), and Florida (-726). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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