Weekly Jobless Claims Now at 80th Straight Week Under 300,000
September 15, 2016 by Jon C. OggThe Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released another weekly jobless claims report, and it marks the 80th week in a row of less than 300,000 claims, the longest sub-300,000 streak since 1970.
In the week ending September 10, the seasonally adjusted figure for initial jobless claims was 260,000. That is an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 259,000.
Bloomberg had the consensus estimate at 265,000, from an Econoday range of 261,000 to 265,000. Dow Jones, via the Wall Street Journal, also showed a consensus estimate of 265,000.
Additional data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the four-week moving average was 260,750, which represents a decrease of 500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 261,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6% for the week ending September 3. And the continuing jobless claims, the army of the unemployed, was up by 1,000 to 2,143,000 in the week ending September 3.
The BLS pointed out yet again that no special factors had an impact on this week’s initial claims. Until this report starts showing any serious change, investors and economists alike will largely ignore the news.
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