U.S. weekly jobless claims surge partly because of Hurricane Fiona

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Macro Matters

4 minute read | October 6, 2022 | 10:19 AM EDT | Last Updated 8 min ago

U.S. weekly jobless claims surge partly because of Hurricane Fiona

Summary
• Weekly jobless claims increase 29,000 to 219,000
• Continuing claims rise 15,000 to 1.361 million
• Announced job cuts jump 46% to 29,989 in September

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased by the most in four months last week, but the labor market remains tight even as demand for labor is cooling amid higher interest rates. ... Some of the larger-than-expected jump in jobless claims reported by the Labor Department on Thursday was partially blamed on Hurricane Fiona, with filings surging in Puerto Rico, which was ravaged by the storm in the second half of September.

Claims data in the coming weeks will likely be distorted by Hurricane Ian, which cut a swath of destruction across Florida and the Carolinas at the end of September. ... "It's difficult to assess how much the labor market is cooling from initial claims and this will be the case for several weeks because of the distortions from Hurricane Fiona and Ian," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania{.}

{snip}

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000 for the week ended Oct. 1. Last week's increase was the biggest since June. Data for the prior week was revised to show 3,000 fewer applications filed than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 203,000 applications for the latest week.

Unadjusted claims increased 13,264 to 167,083 last week. Claims for Puerto Rico jumped 3,917. Massachusetts reported an increase of 2,206 in filings, while 3,749 more applications were filed in Missouri. In Florida, claims dropped 1,409. Claims typically fall during a disaster period before rebounding.

{snip}

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. From the source:

https://oui.doleta.gov/press/2022/100622.pdf

https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

News Release

Connect with DOL at
https://blog.dol.gov

TRANSMISSION OF MATERIALS IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL
8:30 A.M. (Eastern) Thursday, October 6, 2022

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending October 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 219,000, an increase of 29,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 3,000 from 193,000 to 190,000. The 4-week moving average was 206,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 750 from 207,000 to 206,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.0 percent for the week ending September 24, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised down by 0.1 from 1.0 to 0.9 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 24 was 1,361,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 1,347,000 to 1,346,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,370,750, a decrease of 10,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 1,381,250 to 1,381,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

{snip}

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending September 17 was 1,246,900, a decrease of 55,459 from the previous week. There were 4,174,821 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

{snip the rest of the ten-page news release, until the end}

Weekly Claims Archives
Weekly Claims Data

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