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Jobless Claims: Back Under 350k

September 2, 2021
Bottom Line: Claims fell below 350k for only the second week since the pandemic.  Hitting 340k, the trend remains slowly in the right direction. While there were still some states showing unusual volatility, the underlying details mostly confirmed the improvement in the labor market.  
Our Nowcast model suggests claims fell further this week, based on data through Wednesday, potentially quite sharply.
Jobless Claims FELL by 14k during the week ended August 28th to 340k, compared with market expectations for an increase to 345k. The 4-week average FELL by 11.8k to 355k and the 13-week average FELL by 3.7k to 382k.
                   
Continuing Claims
FELL by 160k during the week ended August 21st to 2,748k, The 4-week average FELL by 58k to 2,855k.
                         
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Continuing Claims FELL by 193k to 2,617k during the week ended August 14th.

The Insured Jobless Rate
FELL by  0.1% to 2.0% during the week ended August 21st. The insured jobless rate only reflects the number of people collecting regular state unemployment insurance.