New filings for jobless benefits fell below the pre-pandemic level for the first time since December as the economy continued to recover from the omicron surge, according to government data released Thursday. New filings—a proxy for layoffs—dropped to 215,000 for the week ending Feb. 26 from an ... READ MORE >
initial jobless claims
Chart of the day: Initial jobless claims continue to decline
Initial jobless claims last week continued to trend down toward the pre-pandemic level after a period of temporary increases because of the omicron variant. New filings for the week ending Feb. 19 dropped to 232,000 from 249,000 in the prior week, only 14,000 claims away from the 2019 average. The ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims rise unexpectedly
New filings for jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week because of large jumps in Missouri and Ohio. New claims advanced to 248,000 from an upwardly revised 225,000 the week before, according to data from the Labor Department on Thursday. The upside surprise was quite large as the market had ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: New jobless claims continue to fall
Initial jobless claims fell for the third straight week as the labor market recovers from the omicron surge. New filings for jobless benefits dropped by 16,000 to 223,000 for the week ending Feb. 5 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Jobless claims fall as omicron crests
Initial jobless claims fell in back-to-back weeks as the omicron variant's surge continued to fade in the second half of January, bringing last week's number closer to the pre-pandemic average, according to government data released Thursday. The headline number dropped to 238,000 on a seasonally ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Initial jobless claims drop as omicron crests
New filings for jobless claims fell to 260,000 last week, following the 14-week high of 290,000 in the previous week, as COVID-19 cases continued to retreat from their recent record high, according to government data released Thursday. Still, it marked the third week in a row that new jobless claims ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims reach 13-week high amid omicron variant’s surge
New filings for jobless benefits last week jumped to 286,000, the second sharp increase in a row from 231,000 the week before as the surge in omicron cases led to temporary layoffs across the country, according to government data released Thursday. Despite a tight labor market where companies are ... READ MORE >
Initial U.S. jobless claims exceed pre-pandemic level as omicron variant sets in
New filings for U.S. jobless benefits last week rose to 230,000 from 207,000 the week before, exceeding the average pre-pandemic level for the first time in six weeks as the impact of the omicron variant began to be felt in the labor market. The unexpected increase in new claims was also influenced by ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims remain below pandemic level despite seasonal uptick
New filings for unemployment insurance last week ticked up to 207,000 from 198,000, continuing to stay below the pre-pandemic level amid a tight labor market where businesses are holding onto their workers. The headline number for jobless claims has been below the 2019 average of 218,000 for the past ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims remain below pre-pandemic level despite seasonal volatility
New filings for jobless benefits last week advanced to 206,000, remaining below the pre-pandemic level from 2019 after falling to a 52-year low the week before at an upwardly revised 188,000—which many attributed to the seasonal adjustments around the holidays. We expect the claims data to be highly ... READ MORE >