Jobless Claims: Hurricane Impacts Continued

Bottom Line: Claims jumped in Georgia and Florida last week in the wake of Hurricane Michael. The volatility was expected and will likely settle down over the coming weeks before Thanksgiving holiday adjustments start to cause a bit more volatility again. Overall, the trend is still decidedly stronger for labor. For the time being there has been some stabilization in the pace of declines for claims, but we'll have to see how that plays out once this weather-related volatility is behind us. Jobless Claims ROSE by 5k during the week ended October 20th, 215k, compared with market expectations for an increase to 211k.The 4-week average was UNCHANGED at 212k and the 13 week average FELL by 0.2k to 211k. Continuing Claims FELL by 5k during the week ended October 13th to 1,636k, after the prior week was revised slightly lower from 1,661k to 1,641k.The 4-week average FELL by 7k to 1,647k. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Continuing Claims ROSE by 19k to 1,370k during the week ended October 6th. The Insured Jobless Rate FELL by 0.1% to 1.1% during the week ended October 13th. The insured jobless rate only reflects the number of people collecting regular state unemployment insurance.