Jobless Claims: Continued Declines

June 14, 2018
Bottom Line: Initial claims declined again in the first full week of June due mostly to seasonal adjustments as actual claims rose following the Memorial Day holiday. As seasonal adjustments continue through the summer, the trend remains towards lower claims despite the uptick in May. Jobless Claims FELL by 4k during the week ended June 9th, 218k, compared with market expectations for an increase to 228k.The 4-week average FELL by 1.3k to 224k and the 13 week average FELL by 0.6k to 223k. Continuing Claims FELL by 49k during the week ended June 2nd to 1,697k, after the prior week was revised modestly lower from 1,871k to 1,746k.The 4-week average FELL by 4k to 1,726k. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Continuing Claims FELL by 17k to 1,556k during the week ended May 26th. The Insured Jobless Rate STAYED at 1.2% during the week ended June 2nd. The insured jobless rate only reflects the number of people collecting regular state unemployment insurance.