US initial jobless claims 719K vs 675K estimate

US initial jobless claims and continuing claims for the current week

US initial jobless claims and continuing claims for the current week
  • Prior week. Revised lower to 658K
  • Initial jobless claims 719K versus 675K estimate
  • Initial jobless claims 4 week average 719 versus 729.5 last week.  This it is the lowest level since March 14, 2020
  • Continuing claims 3794K vs 3750K estimate.  Prior week revised to 3840K vs 3870K initial reported
  • Continuing claims 4 week average 3978.5K vs 4125.75K last week.
  • During the week ending March 13, 50 states reported 7,349,663 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits (vs 7,735,491 last week), and 51 states reported 5,515,355 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits (vs 5,551,215 last week).
  • The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 20 were in Massachusetts (+11,386), Texas (+7,599), Connecticut (+4,170), Maryland (+2,605), and Virginia (+2,035),
  • The largest decreases were in Illinois (-55,580), Ohio (-45,808), California (-13,331), New York (-4,251), and Florida (-2,991).
The claims move back above 700K but the four week averages are still trending to the downside.  The policymakers at the Fed are likely still concerned about the high levels for the initial claims.  The pre-pandemic levels were around 250 – 280K.