Jobless Claims: Steady on Seasonally Adjusted Basis

Bottom Line: While initial claims declined just slightly, the potential for volatility in the coming weeks remains high as the non-seasonaly adjusted tally in the Thanksgiving holiday week fell nearly 50k. The 4-week average is at 240k, below the 13-week average that is now 251k, indicating the labor market trends are still improving modestly. Jobless Claims FELL by 2k during the week ended November 25th, 238k, compared with market expectations for no change to 240k.The 4-week average ROSE by 1.3k to 240k and the 13 week average ROSE by 0.2k to 251k. Continuing Claims ROSE by 42k during the week ended November 18th to 1,957k, after the prior week was revised slightly higher from 1,904k to 1,915k.The 4-week average ROSE by 18k to 1,911k. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Continuing Claims ROSE by 92k to 1,714k during the week ended November 11st. The Insured Jobless Rate ROSE by 0.1% to 1.4% during the week ended November 18th. The insured jobless rate only reflects the number of people collecting regular state unemployment insurance.