Jobless Claims: Sixth Week of Improvement

Bottom Line: Claims fell for the sixth straight week and were almost half of early April levels. Non-seasonally adjusted claims were just over 367k, close to the adjusted figure of 376k, despite the Memorial Day holiday.   The trend remains lower, with the 4-week average at 403k, below the 13-week average of 556k.  Our Nowcasting model suggests the potential for a short-term uptick, potentially over 400k unadjusted this week.  But even pushing back over 400k for a few weeks would not change the improvement trend.Jobless Claims FELL by 9k during the week ended June 5th to 376k, compared with market expectations for an increase to 370k. The 4-week average FELL by 25.5k to 403k and the 13 week average FELL by 27.5k to 556k.Continuing Claims FELL by 258k during the week ended May 29th to 3,499k, The 4-week average FELL by 35k to 3,651k.
                   
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Continuing Claims FELL by 175k to 3,316k during the week ended May 22nd.
     
The Insured Jobless Rate FELL by  0.2% to 2.5% during the week ended May 29th. The insured jobless rate only reflects the number of people collecting regular state unemployment insurance.