Initial jobless claims fell -10,000 in the latest reporting week to 222,000 after expanding 23,000 in the week before. Without seasonal adjustment, initial claims were down -13,300 which is a larger decline than claims with the seasonal adjustment. The four-week average of initial claims is now at 214,000 which is a decline of -2% YoY. The YoY drop suggests that the labor market is roughly stronger than a year ago.
The level of continued claims is at 1.8 million which is an increase of 8,000 over the previous week. The current level of individuals that are accepting unemployment insurance is well below the 10-year average (after excluding 2020 data) of 2.1 million. Continued claims is up by 3.4% YoY which is an indicator of a softer labor market than a year ago. The insured unemployment rate is unchanged at 1.2% which is below the long-term average of 2.5% and below the typical recession level of 5.0%.
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